Pedersen misses out on sprint in stage 2 of Tour of Denmark, sees co-leader crash and lose time

Before the start of stage two, Pedersen had already hinted that his team wouldn’t control the race, despite him starting the day in the leader’s jersey. “I’ll stay in the peloton and relax a bit. We’ll let the teams that want a sprint do the work,” the race leader told Feltet ahead of the 105-kilometre stage.

The team’s passive approach was intentional, the Danish star explained. “We know the time trial [on day three, ed.] will be hard, it always is. But both Vejle [stage 4, ed.] and Silkeborg [stage 5, ed.] will be tough days as well. We need to save some energy, and there are other teams that should take the lead too. They’re also here to win bike races.”

A rest day was never really on the cards for the former world champion. “I’m not just going to sit in the peloton and roll through the day. If it comes to a sprint, of course we want to try and win if possible. If it’s a sprint, we’ll probably be in the mix,” Pedersen said before the start in Rødovre.

As expected, the stage was set to finish in a bunch sprint. But in the closing kilometres, Pedersen’s lead-out man, birthday boy Ryan Gibbons, literally hit the deck. The peloton, of course, didn’t wait for the fallen Gibbons, leaving Pedersen’s sprint train off the rails. “It was a hectic finale,” Pedersen told Feltet. “It was a short stage with a lot of fresh riders wanting to sprint, and that always makes it chaotic.”

Then came the scenario Lidl–Trek had feared beforehand. “The last thing we wanted today was a crash. We wouldn’t have minded if the breakaway had gone for the win. But unfortunately Ryan Gibbons crashed, he was supposed to be my last man for the sprint.”

As a result, Pedersen did not get into the right position. “After that, the plan was just to make sure we didn’t lose any time. It was the kind of finale where you can easily drop a few seconds. So it was more important to stay near the front than to contest the sprint.”

Sadly for Lidl–Trek, Gibbons’ crash wasn’t the only one. Not long after, Matthias Skjelmose, eighth in stage 1 and the team’s second card for the general classification, also went down. “They both made it to the finish. They’re being checked in the bus by our doctors,” the team shared immediately on social media.

The Danish climber had already drifted back to stay out of trouble but still crashed anyway. A number of riders crashed in front of the 24-year-old, and when more riders piled in from behind, Skjelmose was taken down as well. He managed to finish, 77th on the day, but lost valuable seconds in the fight for the GC.

After the stage, sports director Kim Andresen was asked about the condition of his co-leader. “Everything’s OK,” the Dane confirmed from the team car. “It’s just hard to keep dealing with these setbacks. He’s doing everything right. He’s staying out of the way. I can’t fault him. We just need to help him get back on his feet. It’s tough every time.”

Despite the disappointment, the mood in the Lidl–Trek camp remained determined. “That’s why we wanted two guys in GC. This can happen. He’s not out of it yet. We know how hard Vejle [stage 4, ed.] is. It is what it is. Of course it’s not ideal.” The team later confirmed that both Gibbons and Skjelmose escaped with only road rash.