Pello Bilbao keen on honouring Gino Mäder with Tour de France win: "I would like to win in his honor in the first two days"
Cycling
Pello Bilbao comes into the Tour de France with the goals of winning a stage and helping Mikel Landa in the fight for the overall classification. The Basque rider comes highly motivated for a home start.
"The first two stages suit me well, and I want to be in their competition. From then on, I will change my strategy and try to help Mikel Landa as much as possible," Bilbao said in an interview with Busturialdetik Hitza. Changing plans this year, the Tour de France has become a big goal for his season and he comes in with good form.
Bilbao abandoned the Giro d'Italia following the passing of his teammate Gino Mäder, until that point he was sitting in fifth position. Third at the Tour Down Under and fourth at the UAE Tour provided further evidence that the 33-year old is having good legs this year.
"Teammate Gino Mader passed away in a crazy accident and, although it was very bad to leave that behind, we will pedal for him; if possible, I would like to win in his honor in the first two days, those two stages are a clear goal," he adds, naturally wanting to succeed in front of his home crowd.
Bahrain - Victorious have however plenty chances, as each of their riders could stand their chances on specific days. The team seeks a GC result for Mikel Landa, but many others such as Matej Mohoric, Fred Wright and Phil Bauhaus will also be on the hunt for wins.
"We have eight capable of competing in all types of stages: we have the sprinter Phil Bauhaus and the guides Alfred Wright and Nikias Arndt, for the soft stages; in the medium and high mountain stages, on the other hand, Wouter Poels and Jack Haig can be greatly needed; in addition to them, we also bring an effective hunter like Matej Mohoric to the Tour," Bilbao concluded.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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Siguiendo los pasos de Gino y continuando con su legado, durante este @letourdefrance donaré a la asociación @basoaksos 1€ por cada corredor que se clasifique después de mi en cada etapa. El objetivo es comprar un terreno deforestado y replantarlo con especies locales.
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