"I'm paid by someone else" Mads Pedersen explains why he took charge in Giro mountain stage without hesitation

Right from the start, Lidl-Trek was active at the front. Pedersen launched several attacks in the flat opening phase, with Mathias Vacek, Jacopo Mosca, and Daan Hoole all putting in valuable work. Eventually, Pedersen and Vacek made it into the day’s breakaway, though the San Pellegrino climb proved too much for the heavier riders.

“This was the first real climb of the Giro, and the plan was to have Mads and Vacek in the break,” Ciccone explained post-stage to Eurosport. “After the long ascent, we reassessed the race situation, and I think we placed ourselves really well.”

When the gap to the breakaway started growing dangerously, Mads Pedersen went all-in at the front, almost single-handedly reeling them back in. Was it a call from the team car, or a move from the Dane himself? “We know Mads,” Ciccone said. “He came up to me and asked how my legs were. I told him I felt good, and he went straight to the front to ride. That was his way of helping me go for the win.”

In the end, Ciccone finished third on the stage and moved up from eighth to seventh in the general classification. “The form is there, and I was already happy after the Strade stage. Now I’ve got confirmation that I’m feeling really strong.”

As the man in the points jersey, Mads Pedersen is expected to speak to the press every day, and Wednesday was no exception. “I just did my job. The sports director told me to ride on the front, so I did. He’s my boss,” Pedersen explained. “Of course, I’d love to see someone from the breakaway win, but I’m paid by someone else.”

“That long climb was brutal. If I had gone over my limit there, I wouldn’t have been able to recover,” he told CyclingProNet. “I just rode my numbers and let anyone who wanted to pass, pass. But I also knew I had a good shot at coming back because of the long descent that followed.”

On Thursday, Pedersen will have another shot at a stage win with a flatter transition stage on the menu. “I’m never satisfied. If there’s a chance, I’ll always go for it. We’ll come up with a plan for the next stage and see how to approach it,” said the Dane.