Pello Bilbao dedicated his victory on Stage 10 of the Tour de France on Tuesday to his former teammante Gino Mäder who died last month during the Tour of Switzerland.
“It was a special one … for Gino,” said Bilbao. “It was hard to prepare the last two weeks before the race with him in your mind.
“I wanted to try and win in the first few stages in the Basque country because it was so special for me but it wasn’t possible, so I just waited for my moment."
The 33-year-old Spaniard finished the 167.5 kilometres between Vulcania and Issoire in three hours, 52 minutes and 34 seconds to end a sorry statistic for Spanish riders who have not claimed a stage in cycling's most prestigious ace since Omar Fraile in Mende in 2018 - 99 stages ago.
"It’s my first victory in the Tour after 13 years," added Bilbao. "It’s such a special moment for me.”
Georg Zimmermann, racing for Intermarché-Circus-Wanty, was second and Ben O'Connor, the AG2R-Citroën cyclist, finished third.
In the overall rankings, defending champion Jonas Vingegaard sports the race leader's yellow jersey.
The 26-year-old Dane has completed the 1,792.4 kilometres of the race so far in 42 hours, 33 minutes and 13 seconds.
Two-time winner Tadej Pogacar is second 17 seconds behind and Jai Hindley is third, 40 seconds off Vingegaard's pace.
The 11th stage on Wednesday takes the riders 180 kilometres between Clermont-Ferrand and Moulins.
The 2023 race finishes on 23 July.
