Adam Yates of Team UAE beat his twin brother Simon Yates of Jayco on Saturday to win the first stage of the Tour de France in Bilbao.
 
The British twins had pulled away at the crest of the penultimate hill, and it was evident that those in pursuit had little desire to pursue them over the final few kilometers.
 
Tadej Pogacar, a two-time Tour winner from the UAE, finished third, 12 seconds back after the 182 km circuit that began and ended in the Basque capital.
 
He raised his arms in triumph crossing the line, after seeing his newly-recruited teammate take the win. 
"It was as if I had won the stage myself or even better. It's a dream to see the team developing like this," said Pogacar, the 2021 and 2022 champion. 
 
Yates won the first yellow jersey for overall victory as well as the first green jersey for sprint points.
 
Andy Schleck beat his brother Frank on stage 18 of the 2011 Tour de France, making it the second 1-2 for cycling brothers. "Our parents are here too," Adam said after the stage. "I haven't seen them yet, they're somewhere along the coast in a campervan." 
 
Adam led an elite clique up the Sondika Hill via a narrow route formed by exuberant flag-waving spectators before letting Simon do most of the work the rest of the way to the finish line. "He understood. I'm sure he'll get his chance to be a pain in the ass along the road somewhere," said the winner, adding, "He asked me this morning what our plans were but I couldn't tell him." 
 
Simon Yates, long considered the better of the identical twins, is second in the overall standings, at eight seconds, but appeared deflated after the finale. 
 
Slovenian Pogacar is third overall after bonuses at 18 seconds. Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard is four seconds back after tailing the Slovenian to the finish line like he did last year when he wore down his competitor.