This year’s Tour de France has been packed with plenty of action and there’s a big reason that plenty more Brits and Mancs, specifically, have been watching: two of the best riders this year are a couple of brothers from Bury.
If you’re not clued up on the cycling world then you might be forgiven for not knowing the names Adam and Simon Yates and even for those clued up, the blokes from Bury were still considered relative outside contenders before the start of the race.
Nevertheless, the two twins from the Greater Manchester borough have been battling it out right at the top end of the competition and while the current two frontrunners are comfortably ahead of the pack as we head into stage 11, the Yates brothers are still well in contention for top 10 finishes.
If they play their cards right for the remainder of the tour, they could even take third and fourth. Who knows? It’s a long old race.
Emerging as leaders in the opening stage on Saturday, 1 July, Adam Yates took control of the yellow jersey after the first 113 miles with brother Simon in tow right behind him, meaning that there was a one-two finish for the Mancs on the opening weekend.
Adam ended up finishing in 21st after stage two and behind Simon but retained the yellow jersey and did so right through to stage four after once again finishing first in stage three and still registering a strong time the following day, with Simon still boasting third in the standings at that point.
The leading Bury brother eventually conceded the yellow jersey but only dropped down to fifth overall with the slower of the two Yates sat not far behind in seventh. In fact, by stage seven, Simon had overtaken Adam before the pair swapped places once again.
Regardless, the two have stayed within touching distance of each other throughout and have been delighting fans back home. Here’s Adam Yates reacting to his first stage win — safe to say, he was a bit knackered…
A delighted but exhausted Adam Yates reflects on his Tour de France stage win 🗣 pic.twitter.com/73S7Bkblq4
Thankfully, the Yates boys happily traded back and forth, sharing each other’s slipstream and maintaining their momentum and have continued to help each other in spells despite under different banners — Adam racing for UAE Team Emirates and Simon with Team Jayco-AlUla.
Better still, the brothers haven’t let the competition get in the way of the usual familiar banter, posting images with captions like, “Pesky younger brothers hey…” and even a bit of self-deprecation, with Simon joking that he is the “slowest man to ever wear the green jersey.”
Here’s hoping they finish the Tour de France 2023 nice and high and can boast some colours come 23 July. Keep it going lads, us Mancs are right behind you!
Featured Image — Tour de France/Simon Yates/Adam Yates (via Instagram)
Sport
Streamer AngryGinge ‘arrested and banned’ from Silvestone at the British GP
Danny Jones
Popular Manc influencer, ‘AngryGinge’, was arrested, fined and ultimately banned from Silverstone at this year’s British GP.
The Salford-born Twitch streamer, YouTuber and social media personality (real name Morgan Burtwhistle) was detained at the circuit after being arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.
Ginge recently starred in Soccer Aid 2025 and is a well-known face both on the internet and in the sporting world, regularly working in and around football, and is an avid Manchester United – even featuring in the club’s third kit launch video last year.
The 23-year-old and two other fellow streamers, ‘Chazza’ and ‘Samham’, were accused of criminal damage after sitting in an F1 car whilst recording around the Silverstone complex.
AngryGinge returned to streaming after being detained by police for 15 hours
The streamer and several friends were arrested for climbing into a display F1 car at the British Grand Prix pic.twitter.com/WDSYb6MVtj
“On Friday, July 4, NP received a report that a classic Formula 1 car on display at Silverstone Circuit during the British Grand Prix event had sustained several thousands of pounds worth of damage, which was alleged to have been caused by someone accessing the display stand and climbing into the vehicle.
“Officers carried out initial inquiries, and suspects were identified. Three men, aged 23, 25 and 27, were arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage to a vehicle and taken into police custody.
“Following a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the incident, all three men were released with no further action.”
Burtwhistle went into more detail on the incident on socials, explaining that the trio were taken away in handcuffs and “locked up” for several hours – 15 hours, according to SamHam (Samuel Imie).
All three individuals deny causing any damage to the racecar, even despite users sharing clips from the livestream footage captured for the Red Bull online Content on the day that many argue incriminates them, or at least sounds like it – we’ll let you watch and decide for yourselves.
Ginge himself went on to detail that ridculousness of the situation, explaining how he was effectively detained for watching someone else climb into the vehicle.
He’ll be dining out in this one for some time, you can be sure of that.
He’s literally a brands dream isn’t he 😂 so quick and smart with it
Featured Images — Soccer Aid/angryginge13 (screenshot via Twitch)/Samham (via X)
Sport
Boxing legend Ricky Hatton is coming out of retirement after more than a decade
Danny Jones
Mancunian and British boxing legend Ricky Hatton MBE is coming out of retirement after more than a decade for his first competitive fight in 13 long years.
This is sure to be one to watch.
The Stockport-born and Hattersley-raised fighter first retired back in 2011, but did flirt with a comeback a year later in what turned out to be a one-off fight and defeat to 35-year-old Ukrainian welterweight, Vyacheslav Senchenko.
‘Hitman’ Hatton also got back in the ring for an exhibition match against Marco Antonio Barrera in 2022, enduring eight two-minute rounds after a decade away from fighting, but now he’ll be undertaking an official fight over in the United Arab Emirates.
Lacing up his gloves at 46 years old, Hatton will be facing fellow veteran Eisa Al Dah (same age), who was the first professional boxer in the UAE.
The ‘Pride of Hyde’ may have been out of the competitive sporting sphere for a while, but he’s still remained an active figure in the boxing world.
In addition to training his son, Campbell, who has followed in his father’s fighting footsteps, Hatton has continued to coach other young boxing talents from his gym in Tameside, including John Hedges and Chloe Watson.
Campbell, 24, has won 14 of his 16 fights, losing just twice since he began in 2021.
Meanwhile, his dad – who still boasts a record of 45 victories from 48 matches, 32 of which were by knockout – will be once again focusing on getting himself back in fighting shape for the Dubai bout.
The local athlete has done plenty to dispel the old jabs of ‘Ricky Fatton’ in recent times, mind you, having taken his talents as a once-promising young footballer to play in the Manchester Remembers charity match, as well as the aforementioned Barrera exhibition.
Set for this winter, Ricky Hatton will face fellow veteran Eisa Al Dah in a middleweight contest on Friday, 2 December, telling national media via video call in the recent press conference that confirmed he would be coming out of retirement: “What you’re trying to do there for boxing in Dubai is fantastic.”
Meanwhile, Al Dah added: “It will be a true fight, true action. And I will do my best, because everybody in the UAE and the Gulf, they will watch this fight. The place will be sold out, and it will be watched around the world.”
Will those Haymakers still hit like they used to? Well shall see before the end of the year.
Danny Jones -
12th July 2023 
