Spain’s First Tour De France Stage Win For Five Years

Spanish cycling fans can rejoice today as one of their countrymen has ended a five-year drought by winning a stage in the Tour de France.

Tuesday, July 11, saw Spanish rider Pello Bilbao Lopez, riding for the Bahrain Victorious team, win the 167-kilometre stage 10 of the Tour de France, something that fans had had to wait a long time for.

Bilbao ends Five-Year Drought

The last Spaniard to win a stage was back in 2018 when Omar Fraile took the honours, 99 stages later and Bilbao has finally given fans something to cheer.

This year’s Tour started in Bilbao in Spain’s Basque Country, and namesake Pello was the star of the Grand Départ, getting an extra loud cheer when his name was announced.

Today he repaid the favour many times over by claiming his first-ever Tour de France victory in Issoire. The 33-year-old rider from Guernica outsprinted Georg Zimmermann and British rider, Ben O’Connor, to clinch victory.

An ecstatic Bilbao said: ‘We started the stage fully focused,’ before he confirmed that he and his fellow teammates: ‘were attacking, going full gas.’

Tribute Paid To Fallen Team Mate

In the final 3km of today’s stage, a small group of riders had broken away. Bilbao takes up the story: ‘I knew I was the fastest man. With cold blood I let Zimmermann do his attack… and I sprinted without thinking of anything. I went with everything I had, with all energy I had, remembering the reason I was riding – for Gino.’

Pello’s teammate Gino Mader was tragically killed in last month’s Tour de Suisse, something which no doubt inspired him today.

‘It was a special victory. It was hard to prepare and to come with a positive energy in the Tour. I wanted to ride the first two stages for the win but it wasn’t possible. Then I waited for my moment. My overall position was a problem, but I decided to make one move – the right move. This is my first victory in the Tour, after 13 years as a pro. It’s such a special moment for me.’

Today’s win sees Bilbao lying in fifth place in the general classification, over four and a half minutes behind Yellow Jersey, Jonas Vingegaard.

There are three British riders in the top ten overall standings, Lancastrian twins, Adam Yates, Simon Yates and Yorkshireman, Tom Pidcock.