Mads Pedersen - who offered Wout van Aert support after the finish - explains how his wrist is still affecting his legs

After just over seventy kilometres of racing, Lidl-Trek opened things up with Czech rider Mathias Vacek, Danish champion Søren Kragh Andersen and Pedersen himself. The two Danes stayed in contention all the way to the finish, while Vacek had already dropped out along the way, but Pedersen concluded afterwards that their best effort had already been spent by that point.

“We knew it would be a gamble to open the race that early, after 70 kilometres, but it was a good plan,” Pedersen said, after seeing the peloton burn plenty of energy to reel in the eighteen-man front group.

“Maybe we used too much energy there as well, but it is what it is,” Pedersen continued. “It did not pay off, but that is just how it goes. It was a nice day of racing. We wanted a long, hard race, and that is exactly what we got.”

In the final, the Dane was still able to contest the victory, but it was ultimately Filippo Ganna of INEOS Grenadiers who came through best. “We knew it had to be a long sprint to catch Wout,” said Pedersen, who was one of the first riders to go over to Van Aert after the finish to offer him support.

“Ganna did it perfectly. He waited long enough and passed him just before the line. I also did not have the legs to produce a proper sprint,” said the rider who finished ninth. “I know that is still something missing after the injury, that punch. I had a good day on the bike, and that was the main thing.”

“That acceleration I am missing... you know, it is not easy when you spend six weeks riding around with a broken wrist,” Pedersen explained. “You do all your training seated, so I knew I would be missing those accelerations.”

“Of course it would have been nicer if the bike had felt as though it had no chain on it, but it was decent,” said the former world champion, who is set to ride the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, where he finished second last year.

“I am not going to stand here and tell you that I am good enough. I will be able to give a much better answer after the race. This Dwars door Vlaanderen has nothing to do with the Tour of Flanders.”