Pedersen’s spring Classics campaign looks increasingly unlikely: Milan–Sanremo and E3 “will be very difficult”

Earlier, he had already shared a far-from-optimistic update. “It’s a shame, but we also don’t know how the body will respond. If I make it to the Classics, those will be my first races,” he said at the time. “That’s different to going in after you’ve been able to race, so it’s a big question mark what my legs will be like. But if we didn’t believe in it, I wouldn’t be destroying myself on the indoor trainer.”

Pedersen is clearly putting in serious work, but the process is not going smoothly. The former world champion (Harrogate, 2019) would normally be Lidl–Trek’s leader for the cobbled Classics, yet the American team is now facing the prospect of lining up without their three-time Gent–Wevelgem winner. With riders like Mathias Vacek, Toms Skujiņš and others, Lidl–Trek still has plenty of strength in depth — but if Pedersen can’t make the start, his absence would be a major blow on the cobbles.

And it is starting to look that way more and more. Milan–Sanremo is scheduled for 21 March, but it appears increasingly unlikely that the Danish powerhouse will be on the start line for La Primavera. “It’s going to be very difficult. Even making E3 (27 March) will be tough,” he said, sounding sombre. “It’s still a complicated fracture and the bones in the hand haven’t healed yet.”

“The splint I had was only to keep everything in place, and now it needs to heal properly again,” he explained about his wrist. “The collarbone also hasn’t healed yet. So it’s not safe to ride a bike again and spend many hours out on the road. We keep working on it and we’ll try to see if it can happen, and we’ll believe in it until the end — but nothing is certain yet.”