Pedersen warns the peloton on what comes next for wounded UAE: 'They'll find a way'

The biggest loser of the Bulgarian opening weekend was undoubtedly UAE Team Emirates-XRG. The team from the Emirates saw three riders forced out in the savage stage two crash — including team leader Adam Yates. So what now? Decathlon CMA CGM rider Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen spoke with his fellow Dane Mikkel Bjerg and now expects a thoroughly offensive UAE.

The crash that laid waste to the team came on Saturday's treacherous descent. Marc Soler went down, bringing a large group of riders crashing heavily to the ground. Jay Vine hit the barriers hard and was immediately out of the race, while Soler also abandoned on the spot. Yates finished the stage, but did not start the following day after showing symptoms of concussion.

Just like that, UAE's general classification ambitions — already dented before the start by the absence of João Almeida — were in tatters. The obvious question: what now? Pedersen spoke with compatriot Bjerg during stage three and got some insight. "I had a chat with Mikkel, fellow countryman. He's quite down about it," Pedersen told Domestique. "I talked with him on the third stage and I said, are you going on the breakaway? He said no, they were told just to make it to Italy now."

That was understandable — the day after losing three of their eight riders, the priority was simply to survive. With five men, UAE headed to Italy to regroup. But anonymity for the rest of the race? That seems unlikely. "They'll manage and they'll find a way," Pedersen said. "For sure they're going to win a couple of stages now. Even still without a GC in mind, they're probably going to race like hell on some of these breakaway stages."

Tuesday's stage four could be the first opportunity for that shift — with a long climb in the finale, it is not a day for pure sprinters. Yet Pedersen sees another factor at play. "With Astana in the lead they will do everything to hold on to the GC lead because it's not for sure they will get the leader's jersey back if they lose it."

For his own Decathlon CMA CGM squad, the Dane also sees chances on the day. "We know Toby [Tobias Lund Andresen] has the speed, we know Toby has the fatigue resistance to be there in the sprint also on a hard day." But he stopped short of making a prediction. "It will be quite interesting to see what happens on the climb. It can go both ways."