Pedersen takes green after another missed Lidl-Trek chance: "Time to sit down with the team"

Afterwards, Pedersen wasn't sure what to think or feel, knowing he had finished fifth. “I don't know why I'm smiling. It's nice to have the green back, but it's still a long way to Madrid. So we're far from having that jersey in the bag, but we are one step closer to our goal,” he told Eurosport.

“On the other hand, it was another missed opportunity, but it is what it is. The last time I was in the Vuelta, it took thirteen days before we won,” he said, referring to the 2022 Vuelta, in which he ultimately won three stages. “So nothing is impossible.”

Pedersen had to come from far back in the final sprint and therefore never really had a chance of winning the stage. “We need to sit down with the team and decide how we're going to approach this in the future. We learn from our mistakes, and we made them again today, which we'll learn from,” he said at the finish.

“Overall, it was a perfect day. The guys on the team did a fantastic job again today. They worked hard to let a small breakaway group go and then kept everything under control from that point on. The final was very hectic, of course, and it wasn't easy to find the right order for the lead-out,” the Dane added to the organization.

“I need to review it and get a good overview before I can say anything meaningful about it. I was on Daan Hoole's wheel for a long time, with Soren Kragh Andersen behind me. The idea was that Soren would take over, but I never saw him. So I don't know what happened there, so we'll discuss that with the team managers and what we need to do differently,” said Pedersen.

The footage shows that Kragh Andersen managed to stay upright in the final kilometer after a touch of wheels in front of him, which brought him to a near standstill and caused him to lose places. “If I had the solution, we would make the changes. We have to keep in mind that the start of the Giro, all those stages in which we performed, suited me and the team 100%,” said the experienced all-rounder.

“It's not the same here: it's easier to make a small mistake that has a bigger impact on the result. We'll keep trying to do well. It's the first time we've really raced together like this, so we have to lay the groundwork for the future,” he reiterated about his collaboration with good friend Kragh Andersen.

Wednesday will be another important day for Pedersen and his team, with the team time trial in Spain. “I'm always motivated to help,” he said, referring to Giulio Ciccone's classification.

“It will be a beautiful day, but it is also one of the most dreadful things to do in cycling. If you feel good, you have to work extra hard. But if that is not the case, you suffer terribly. It will be a dreadful but beautiful half hour,” he sums up.