With Pedersen in green and Vacek in white, Lidl-Trek make no secret of their Tourmalet plans

Mads Pedersen won the fourth stage of the Tour de France in impressive fashion on Tuesday. The Dane from Lidl-Trek also claimed the green jersey, and his goal for Stage 5 was to defend that jersey as best he could. The German team succeeded brilliantly in that endeavor. Mathias Vacek also remains in the white jersey.

Pedersen earned points toward the green jersey both along the route and at the finish, and he’ll also be pleased with the stage winner. Olav Kooij (Decathlon) claimed the full 70 points, but isn’t aiming for the green jersey.

As a result, Pedersen, with 143 points, still holds a comfortable lead over second-place Biniam Girmay (79), while sprinters like Jasper Philipsen (72) and Tim Merlier (55) have also fallen a bit behind. And so, a satisfied Pedersen spoke in his post-race flash interview.

The Dane finished seventh in the day's standings. “I scored more points than Jasper Philipsen and Biniam Girmay in the intermediate sprint, and with 100 meters to go, I thought I’d score more points than them at the finish line too—but they came back from behind and passed me.”

"It was a decent day after a few really tough days. "We mainly tried to limit the damage," said the Dane. "I did hear about the crashes, but I didn’t see them. From what I’ve heard, everyone is okay, and that’s a relief."

Thursday will bring a grueling stage over the Col du Tourmalet, but the intermediate sprint comes up after just 59 kilometers. “I don’t know what the plan is. It would be nice to pick up another 25 points in the intermediate sprint, but we’ll see if that’s part of the team’s strategy for that day.”

So, in addition to Pedersen’s green jersey, Vacek is also wearing the white one. “I knew it would be an easier day than the last one. I tried to enjoy it from start to finish. A lot of guys came up to congratulate me on yesterday’s stage, and that was really nice. It was a great day in the white jersey, and I’m looking forward to the next one.”

"The team spirit is fantastic. We won two jerseys in a single day yesterday and achieved our goals. Now we have to make sure Mads takes his green jersey to Paris. As for me, I’m going to fight to keep my white jersey for as long as possible. I know I’m a good climber,” says the all-rounder.

He wants to prove that again on Thursday. “I’m confident in my climbing ability, because I performed well on the climbs in the Tour de Suisse. But this is the Tour de France, and you never know what might happen. Tomorrow I’m going to try to keep up with the climbers and pace myself on the Tourmalet. Just wearing the white jersey for a few days is already a huge success for us."