Pedersen shares funny training-camp story, but delivers painfully realistic update on his rehabilitation

Pedersen remembers the crash all too well. “It was a stressful moment, everyone had to be at the front for a climb,” he says. "It was slightly downhill, we were going 70, 75 kilometers per hour. In a slight left turn, some guys collided, causing them to go straight ahead. I had no choice but to go over the edge. I saw a lot of bushes and hoped for a soft landing, but I fell a meter down onto the rocks."

The Danish classics specialist would normally have ridden a lot of preparatory races, but that wasn't going to happen. On day one of his season, it quickly became clear that things weren't looking good. “My left wrist took a big hit, and so did my collarbone, of course. But my face also took a beating. It was a nasty crash.”

But it could have been much, much worse. Pedersen was treated with extreme caution by the medical staff, as there were fears that he had broken his back. He was taken to hospital wearing a neck brace. 'Then you think, fuck: if my back is broken, you don't think about getting back on your bike, but about how bad it could be.

In the end, a fracture in the vertebrae could be ruled out, but it was no picnic. The worst part? “I couldn't wipe my own ass, man! My left wrist was broken, and I was in a cast up to my elbow. And my right collarbone was broken, so it was in a sling. I couldn't poop for five days. It was a tough birth when I finally could again.”

Rehabilitation is tough, and the road to recovery is long. Pedersen had previously indicated that Milan-Sanremo would be very difficult, but there was also some hopeful news. He was quickly back on the rollers (albeit with an improvised construction), but surprisingly, Pedersen was spotted at training camp with Lidl-Trek. Would he be able to arrive at the Tour of Flanders in top form after all?

Hold your horses, says Pedersen. It's going reasonably well, but we shouldn't get too excited. ‘It's a shame, but we don't know how the body will react. If I make it to the classics, those will be my first races. It's different than when you've been able to race beforehand, so it's a big question mark how my legs will be. But if we didn't believe in it, I wouldn't be killing myself on the exercise bike.’

At the moment, the former world champion can't cycle outside very much: he spends 20 hours a week on the exercise bike and only 3 hours on the road. However, the atmosphere at the training camp is a huge boost. “Those guys spend six hours a day together on their bikes, me a little less, of course. But during dinner, which takes 30 to 40 minutes, we always sit around for another two hours. It's a wonderful atmosphere.”