As he celebrated his first stage win in the Tour de France, Pello Bilbao pointed initially to the sky and then to his heart, in tribute to his former Bahrain Victorious team-mate Gino Mäder, who died while descending at speed in the Tour of Switzerland less than a month ago.
Bilbao won stage 10 to Issoire, after outsprinting Georg Zimmermann, racing for Intermarché-Circus-Wanty. The 33-year-old from Guernica was the fastest finisher from the remnants of a breakaway that eventually snuffed out the hopes of the lone attacker, Krists Neilands, in the closing moments of the stage.
Bilbao admitted, however, that it had been difficult to suppress his feelings as he edged closer to victory. “The key today was to control my emotions,” he said. “The last three weeks have been really intense. Today was different. I started the stage with clear ideas and had the capacity to take control in the race.
“Everybody was on the limit. In the last three kilometres, I knew that I was the fastest in the group, so I just took responsibility. When I crossed the line, I put out all the energy that I had inside and remembered the reason for this victory,” Bilbao said.
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His win was, he said, “a special one, for Gino”. After his victory, an air of poignancy hung over the Tour convoy. Mäder, just 26 when he died, had been a good friend to Bilbao, even naming his rescue dog “Pello” after his Basque team-mate.
When the 2023 Tour had started in Bilbao, a huge image of a smiling Mäder, a dedicated environmentalist, had been the backdrop to the presentation of his former team’s riders.
The death of Mäder and the sense of loss within the peloton continues to be felt deeply, including by the race leader, Jonas Vingegaard. “It’s awful what happened in Switzerland,” the Jumbo-Visma rider said. “It’s so bad that I can’t even imagine how it must feel.
“It is so sad. I am feeling with them [his team-mates] and with Gino’s family as well. I’m happy that they’re doing well and that they’re doing it for Gino.”
Bilbao acknowledged the difficulties he had faced following his team-mate’s death, including a new and unexpected fear of descending. “It’s been hard,” he said. “When we left the race in Switzerland, everybody was affected.
“The best help was to go home and stay with my family and with my daughter, because kids don’t fully understand these difficult situations. With her, it was easier to forget.”
In what was the first Tour win by a Spanish rider for five years, Bilbao also leapfrogged into the higher reaches of the general classification. Twice fifth overall in the Giro d’Italia, he is now fifth overall in the Tour, just 12 seconds behind fourth-placed Carlos Rodríguez of Ineos Grenadiers.
“The priority was to fight for the stage win,” Bilbao said, “but I have made a great jump. Today I spent a lot [of energy] but I hope I can recover and try to be as competitive as possible.”
As furnace conditions enveloped the Massif Central, the local fire services sprayed spectators with cold water, and the day’s five categorised climbs proved as debilitating as the steepest slopes in the Alps or Pyrenees. Among those suffering from a rude awakening, post-rest day, were David Gaudu and compatriot Romain Bardet.
Ahead of the main peloton, a 14-rider group that included Bilbao, Zimmermann and Neilands, moved ahead, as temperatures climbed into the high 30s.
The gruelling stage, raced through the chain of hills to the south of Clermont-Ferrand, was initially animated by a frenzy of attacking that at one point saw a select group, including defending champion Vingegaard and closest rival Tadej Pogacar slip away from the rest of the peloton.
That ambush led to a furious chase by Tom Pidcock’s Ineos Grenadiers team. The main favourites regrouped soon after, although the damage had already been done to many of those struggling to find their legs at the rear of the race. – Guardian
