Mads Pedersen makes Stage 9 intentions clear: ‘Repeat what we did on Stage 4’

Mads Pedersen remains in green after the third bunch sprint of the Tour de France, but the Lidl-Trek rider saw Tim Merlier of Soudal Quick-Step close the gap. The Belgian won a stage in France for the second consecutive day, adding another 70 points to his total in the points classification.

After eight stages, Pedersen leads with 228 points, while Merlier has 213. Pedersen believes the Belgian approaches the green jersey competition differently because he can collect the maximum number of points in every sprint. The Dane finished 12th himself and therefore added relatively few points to his total.

Pedersen explained that these stages are mainly about limiting his losses because he does not consider himself good enough to challenge the pure sprinters in a bunch finish. Although he and Merlier are taking different approaches, their objective is the same. The Dane added that he hoped the close contest was entertaining for those watching at home. His full comments can be found in the official Tour de France interview.

On Sunday, the Tour returns to terrain that should suit Pedersen and Lidl-Trek: a rolling, medium-mountain stage. The Dane made no secret of his ambitions, saying his main objective was to score as many points as possible and “repeat what we did on Stage 4.”