Tour de France Stage 10: Pello Bilbao wins stage 10 of Tour de France, paying tribute to late Gino Mader
Posted : 12 July 2023
After winning stage 10 of the Tour de France, Spanish rider Pello Bilbao paid tribute to his late Bahrain-Victorious teammate Gino Mader.
In a collision in the Tour de Suisse last month, Mader, age 26, died.
"It was the only reason [for the win]," an emotional Bilbao said at the finish. "It was a special one, for Gino."
While Jonas Vingegaard maintained the overall lead, Bilbao surpassed the British quartet of Tom Pidcock, Adam, and Simon Yates, and the Yates twins to take fifth position.
At the conclusion of a dramatic day of racing over a mountainous 167km course that had began at the Vulcania amusement park, Bilbao dash for the finish.
As the race picked up speed after Monday's rest day, Vingegaard and his closest challenger, two-time winner Tadej Pogacar, were embroiled in an early break.
The stage only began to take shape when, with 80 kilometres remaining, 14 cyclists, including Bilbao, broke away to form an escape group.
Latvian Krists Neilands attacked breakaway companions, opening a 35-second gap, but was caught with 3km to go. Bilboa won his first Grand Tours win at 33, paying tribute to Mader.
"It was hard to prepare the last two weeks with him in my mind, but my family helped me a lot to just keep calm and positive and put all my positive energy into doing something nice in the Tour," Bilbao said.
"I wanted to do it in the first few stages [in his native Basque country] as it was so special for me but it was not possible, so I just waited for my moment.
"I was maybe thinking my position in the overall was going to be a problem but I decided to a make an all-in move and in the end it was the right movement.
"My first victory in the Tour after 13 years as a professional is such a special moment for me."
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