Lidl-Trek desperately called for support when Pedersen plan seemed to fail: "But Mads did a Mads thing"

“Everyone was watching us, and everyone knew our plan and if you can still win after that, it's just fantastic,” Pedersen beamed, knowing that the stage suited him perfectly: a brutal opening but a flat finish. “I really wanted to win,” he emphasized in his flash interview. And in the end, he did, convincingly.

The green jersey leader had spent most of the second week collecting points for the points classification, but on the final day before the second rest day, he got a real shot at the stage win. So Lidl-Trek sent not just Pedersen, but also Giulio Ciccone, Carlos Verona, Julien Bernard, and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier into a massive breakaway group.

It was Lidl-Trek and Pedersen against the rest, that much was clear. “I have to say, that makes the victory taste even sweeter. The way the team worked all day, with five guys in the front group… And when Jay Vine and Louis Vervaeke broke away on that final climb, they gained quite a lot of time. They were really strong.”

But the leader of the mountains classification and the Belgian from Soudal-Quick Step were eventually caught. “The guys worked really hard to make it possible to go for the win,” said Pedersen, who had to handle the finale on his own. “There was no choice, I had to respond to everything and keep the pace high to discourage attacks.”

He managed to do just that, and then Marco Frigo from Israel-Premier Tech made things even easier for Pedersen heading into the sprint. “Frigo went with 700 or 800 meters to go, and that was perfect. He basically did a lead-out, so I slowly closed the gap, and after the final corner there were 220 meters left. From there, it was time to sprint.”

Gregory Rast, sports director of Lidl-Trek, looked back with pride during his Eurosport interview on what he described as a pretty stressful day. “When we had four riders supporting Mads, we knew we were in a perfect position. But when Vine and Vervaeke got a three-minute gap, we did panic a bit and asked other teams if they’d help chase. Only Movistar joined in.”

Still, Lidl-Trek managed to pull things back together on the flat after the tough sections. “We had all four riders go full gas, and in the finale, Mads really did a ‘Mads thing.’ He was able to follow Buitrago and Bernal uphill, that was impressive. It was a nervous finish, but with a happy ending. A huge weight has been lifted with this win.”

Rast admitted that Pedersen was a bit difficult over the team radio when things looked like they might slip away. “Mads isn’t always the easiest in moments like that, and for us, it’s also hard to pass on all the right information from the car. But in the final, he knew exactly what he wanted and knew the course well. That’s when we just went quiet in the car.”