A hellish day of work brings no reward for Mads Pedersen: "Impressing is pointless if you don't win"
CyclingWednesday, 22 July 2026 at 18:38
Mads Pedersen was one of the most active riders on stage 17 of the Tour de France and was awarded the most combative rider award. However, the Danish rider was clearly upset with the outcome of the day, where he was constantly on the attack but in the end saw his rival Jasper Philipsen win the stage and almost take the green jersey from him.
Unhappy Pedersen as he almost loses green jersey
Pedersen jumped into the lead of the points classification onstage 4, having won that stage from the breakaway. This stage provided him with a lead and a good margin over the rest of the field, which he maintained throughout the past two weeks.
Whilst on the bunch sprints he has struggled to finish alongside the best, in the intermediate sprints he was often the strongest, and his breakaway antics has seen him hold on to the green jersey. The last pure sprint stage of the race was stage 12, but today in Voiron the sprinters had an opportunity.
Has happened on stage 12, Pedersen and Lidl-Trek went all-out to disrupt any chance of a bunch sprint. Pedersen himself attacked hard at the start of the day, but got dropped from the breakaway on the last ascent of the initial sequence.
However, Decathlon CMA CGM Team and Uno-X almost brought the front group back, and then in a small uphill ramp, the revived Pedersen sprinted across the gap by himself. An incredible performance, however in the following kilometers several groups behind formed to chase the breakaway on. Amongst them were Jasper Philipsen and Olav Kooij.
The relentless maillot vert went on the attack several times and was then part of a six-man group that looked to be taking the stage in Voiron, but the lack of proper cooperation saw the move fade. Jasper Philipsen's group had made it onto the main breakaway group and after Jasper Stuyven's late attack was shut down, a mini bunch sprint amongst the breakaway riders followed.
Philipsen, backed by his leadout men Mathieu van der Poel and Edward Planckaert, sprinted to victory. Pedersen was only eighth. As a result, the gap has been cut to a mere 7 points, something the Lidl-Trek rider was very disappointed with.
"I can't be satisfied with this 'Most Combative Rider' award," he said in a post-race interview. "We're here for points, and today we lost points to our main rival. So this award doesn't do me any good. The Green Jersey will be a daily battle all the way to Paris. I want to bring that jersey home.
Mads Pedersen leading one of the attacks during stage 17 of the Tour de France
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An exciting day - but a bad day
Pedersen was awarded the combativity award due to his many attacks, but it simply did not bring him reward. Potentially, his attack across to the breakaway is what encouraged Jasper Philipsen to also move in the peloton and successfully bridge across to the front of the race. The following three days take the riders up and down the Alps which should favour him; whilst stage 21 in Paris will feature several ascents of the cobbled Montmarte - where both riders are expected to do well.
The fight for the green jersey could come down to the very last day. "So it was a bad day. A costly day in terms of points. I'm extremely disappointed. Impressing is pointless if you don't win," he stated.
"It's not what we were hoping for, but that's how it is, and we have to deal with it. We hope to score more points in the coming days. The fight will continue all the way to Paris, and I'm sure it will all come down to the Champs-Élysées," he concluded.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Proper breakaway specialists will say we haven't had real breakaway stages. Pedersen on stage 4, van der Poel on stage 9 and Philipsen on stage 17... not exactly the usual escapees. Even Schmid on stage 13 - he's a top tier rider and if you look at his successes elsewhere, it's far beyond what most breakaway riders can even imagine
Rafionain-Glas22-07-2026 - adding insult to injury, very classy. maybe work on your flat tire issue Geraint and then talk shit about other teams.whkman22-07-2026
- yates looked like he stopped microdosingwhkman22-07-2026
- As long as Remco is on the scene it's hard to imagine Pogi winning Olympic or WC TT. So maybe they'll still be a handful of road cycling milestones that even the GOAT can't achieve.mobk22-07-2026
- Maybe, if Ineos would invest in a few riders willing to ride as if they were in the last 3km sometimes… I think you have more important things to discuss than other teams’ misfortunes, missing the days of blogging already?Jumpyjohn22-07-2026
- Funny headline choice. I guess Isolated in a group of 36 leading sounds more dramatic than surrounded by his team in a trailing peloton. Yet for other GC contenders the big issue was that they missed getting into the lead group.Mistermaumau22-07-2026
- Afrikaans?Jumpyjohn22-07-2026
- No, Remco won yesterdays ITT fair and square... Pogi was second. He even said: "Today Remco was a rocket."mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales22-07-2026
- Hey Mistermause, Pogi and Torito will figure it out.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales22-07-2026
- Thanks Andrew...I know I'm cool... LOL...mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales22-07-2026
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