Pedersen sets sights on surprising fall goal: "Might be my only chance ever"

Pedersen rode his last race on the international stage in the Copenhagen Sprint. Before that, the sprinter excelled in the Giro d'Italia, where he won four stages and the points classification. The Tour de France was out of the question, with teammate Jonathan Milan taking the honors: the Italian won two stages and took the green jersey to Paris. For Pedersen, the focus this summer was on preparing for the fall: next week, he will start in the Tour of Denmark, after which he will participate in the Vuelta a España and the Tour of Luxembourg.

In the Vuelta, the Danish rider will undoubtedly be chasing stage wins and the points classification again, but in his podcast, he admits to having another goal. The European Cycling Championships will be held in France in October. “Once Luxembourg is over, there are only 10 days until the European Championships, and I hope the national coach selects me for that,” says Pedersen. The championships in the Ardèche seem to suit him well, with several short climbs in the final.

But it is not the road race that the sprinter is aiming for. It is in the time trial that Pedersen wants to compete at the highest level. “It's 24 kilometers, and 22 of those are flat. In the last two kilometers, there's a climb of six to seven percent. It might be my only chance ever. So now we'll see if it works out. It will be fun to try if I'm selected. So there's plenty to look forward to in the coming months.”

It sounds crazy, but anyone who knows Pedersen knows that he can put in a great time trial. He finished seventh in the second stage of the Giro d'Italia and recently became Danish time trial champion, beating Kasper Asgreen, Johan Price-Pejtersen, and Mikkel Bjerg, among others. And if you go further back in time, you know that Pedersen was first a fast rider who could also win time trials before becoming a top sprinter: in total, the Dane has six professional victories on the time trial bike.