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Victorious! TdF23-61
I swear, I couldn't resist. Just as Phil Liggett so desperately wanted to call the Bilbao had one the opening stage in Bilbao, I just love playing off the name of the team that today's stage winner in Issoire rides for. So yes, it was Pello Bilbao (Bahrian-Victorious) who had the legs to out sprint Georg Zimmerman (Intermache-Circus-Wanty) for the victory. To you see the title right there in his team's name? Just out of frame is Ben O'Connor (Ag2r-Citroen) unable to match the sprint of these two settling for third on the stage. O'Connor had tried to get the jump on these guys, but they kept him close. The guy who they had been forced to chase, Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech) held on for fourth place on the day. Well behind the general classification remained the same despite the aggression of the early kilometers of the stage. Bilbao did move himself up to fifth overall. O'Connor didn't move as far up the GC but he did pull back just shy of three minutes on the Maillot Jaune.