Mads Pedersen beats Wout van Aert on instinct, and explains why a finish like Monte Berico played to his strengths

Lidl-Trek had another perfect day on Friday. Mathias Vacek attacked in the final descent with Romain Bardet (Picnic PostNL), so the other riders in the team didn't have to ride. "We wanted Mathias to win the stage because he deserves it. If there had been a little more hesitation in the peloton, he and Bardet would have had 25 to 30 seconds, and then I would have been sure they could have made it."

"It was the ideal situation for us because he took the opportunity to win the stage, and we could sit back and let the other teams do the work. It was perfect," said Pedersen, who passed his teammate a few hundred meters from the finish and then accelerated. "The timing was instinctive. I had to go from the right and I did it a little earlier than we had actually planned. On such a tough uphill finish, that's sometimes okay because everyone's legs are burning. In the end, you can't really do anything anymore."

Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) tried to overtake Pedersen, but ultimately had to acknowledge the superiority of the Lidl-Trek leader. "It went perfectly, but you can't really plan something like that. You see a certain opening. I was on Wout's wheel and there was a gap on the right, so at that moment I decided not to hesitate and go for it. It was still 200 meters to go and from that moment on, I just hoped I could hold on."

The Monte Berico had already been tackled in the local lap, which helped Pedersen and his teammates. "It's always nice when you've seen the finish before because then you can see the dynamics of the peloton on a hill like that. So that was great," said Pedersen, who is not yet thinking about his next stage win.

"I'm mainly happy with this victory and the 50 points. It's still a long way to Rome, and I'm overwhelmed by this new victory," said the Dane, who was also asked at his press conference whether this Giro would propel his career to a new level. "Not this Giro in particular, but this entire season so far. I took a big step forward this winter and now I'm among the top five riders in my category."

"That's paying off now, but I also owe it to the strategy my coach laid out: be strong in the classics and then at the start of the Giro, and keep that up all the way to Rome," he explains. "We added some training hours, about ten to twelve percent. I know my coach very well by now, so we can really fine-tune things. But that goes for the whole team; everything is growing. Marginal gains."

"Not going to the Tour is no disappointment," says the Lidl-Trek leader. "I understand the decision, given the routes in both Grand Tours, and from the moment the decision was made, I was really focused on this Giro, on winning the pink jersey, the points jersey, and as many stages as possible. Sometimes, a small disappointment is good for something else, so you won't hear me complaining. I will enjoy my summer vacation and watch the Tour with a beer in my hand."

In the coming days, Lidl-Trek will continue to focus on this Giro, with Giulio Ciccone joining Pedersen and Vacek. "He's in very good shape, and I think the combination with him works very well. There's less pressure on him, and he knows he has a whole team behind him on the days that don't suit me. Cicco is much calmer; I can see that up close. He has found that balance, and I think he can compete for a high ranking."