Sports director: “Mads Pedersen is not a medical miracle, but someone who has worked himself to the limit”

Pedersen had admitted on Friday in Pavia that he did not really know where he stood yet. He told several TV crews that he would only be able to answer that properly after Saturday afternoon.

Barely 24 hours later, he answered with his legs by winning the sprint of the chasing group in Sanremo. “This is amazing. I didn’t expect this. I had a good day, but it’s a shame I didn’t make the podium.”

“After a few months without racing and only six weeks after surgery, I got so much support from the team. That shows how good these guys are and how much they believe in me. That means much more than they probably realise,” he said, referring to the help he received from Andrea Bagioli, Giulio Ciccone and Mathias Vacek.

“Everyone wanted to support Mads during his comeback and we truly believed in it, so the team was very strong,” the Swiss sports director assessed. “Our plan was to get as many riders as possible over the Cipressa, in case we had to chase.”

“But it was also the plan to have Giulio Ciccone up there, and unfortunately that didn’t work out,” he continued. “After that we took control at the front, but it was a whole circus. Everybody had bad luck. We would have liked to have Søren Kragh Andersen in position, but then he crashed. Everybody else also had bad luck, and you could see that from who was on the ground. Then it becomes an if, if, if story.”

“When Wout got back, we knew Visma would help and would commit to it. I’m very happy with this outcome after six months without racing for Mads,” Rast said of Pedersen, whose first race day of the year ended in that heavy crash.

“It’s not a miracle, it’s mainly the result of hard work. He worked his ass off. Even for us, the decision was only made shortly before Sanremo,” said the former rider. “We always said: when you’re ready, you can come back. Someone like Mads Pedersen does not go to a race just to take part — he goes there to win. So yes, it was a bit of a surprise, but a positive one.”

What does this mean for the injury-hit Lidl–Trek team heading into the Flemish Classics? “It’s a very good sign that Mads is already this strong now. A few weeks ago, we didn’t even know whether he would make it to Roubaix, and now he is already racing here. That promises a lot for the coming races,” Rast concluded.