ANALYSIS | Is Mads Pedersen on for an all-time great performance at the Giro d’Italia 2025?

Five stages down at the Giro d’Italia and Mads Pedersen is already threatening to redefine what’s possible for a classics man at a Grand Tour. Three stage wins in the opening five days, including the uphill drag on stage 5 while wearing the Maglia Rosa, is one of the most explosive starts to a Grand Tour seen in recent years. The Lidl-Trek rider is in the form of his life, and with 16 stages still to come, the question now isn't whether Pedersen can win the Maglia Ciclamino. It's how far he can go, and how many stages he can win.

Stage 5 was far from a traditional sprint finish. After an intense tempo was set by UAE Team Emirates - XRG, the race fragmented following the final climb. Big names like Wout van Aert and Antonio Tiberi were briefly distanced, though the peloton largely regrouped before the decisive finale. Breakaway duo Mattia Bais and Lorenzo Milesi were reeled in with 13 kilometres to go, setting the stage for a chaotic run-in.

With just over 4km remaining, Van Aert faded entirely, making good on his pre-stage comments about not being at his best. The lack of a 3km safety banner for GC riders added to the tension, with Primoz Roglic taking matters into his own hands by going to the front at 2km to go.

For a moment, it looked as if Pedersen was slipping backwards, had he finally found his limit? Was this uphill finish just that little bit too challenging? But with a kilometre to go, he was right back on the wheel of Mathias Vacek, perfectly poised for the sprint. In the final dash, Pedersen held off challenges from Edoardo Zambanini and Tom Pidcock to secure a third victory.

Having already won reduced sprints on stages 1 and 3, Pedersen is proving himself far more than a one-dimensional fast finisher. He's now matched his personal best for most stage wins in a single Grand Tour, three, a record he set at the 2022 Vuelta a España. At 29 years old, the former world champion is riding with a maturity and confidence that suggests he could go even better here.

It’s worth remembering that Pedersen is only riding this Giro because Lidl-Trek chose to save Jonathan Milan, last year’s Maglia Ciclamino winner, for the Tour de France. It’s a selection decision that’s now looking inspired. Pedersen is the clear favourite to win the points classification, and with several more sprint-friendly and rolling stages on the horizon, it’s not outlandish to ask: where could this run of form take him?

It’s not without question that Pedersen could spend the majority of the first two weeks in pink, until the GC men come alive in week 3. We could be quite used to Pedersen in pink by then.

If he adds another two or three wins, we’ll be entering legendary territory. So how would such a Giro stack up against the great Grand Tour performances of history? In 2024, Tadej Pogacar picked up two of the greatest grand tour performances we have ever seen. At the 2024 Giro, he won six stages, on the way to winning the pink jersey by nearly 10 minutes. He couldn’t do the same at the Tour could he? He could, he won six stages, decimating Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel on his way to an incredible Giro-Tour double.

So other than Pogacar, who else could Pedersen rival with his Giro performance? To find out, let’s look back at three of the most iconic individual campaigns ever seen, and see where Pedersen could fit in.

The 1985 Tour de France stands out not only because it was Bernard Hinault’s fifth overall victory, but because of the sheer adversity he overcame en route to it. At 30 years old and nearing the twilight of his career, Hinault entered the race as favourite, but his Tour was almost derailed mid-race by a nasty crash and a serious bout of bronchitis.

After taking the yellow jersey on stage 8, Hinault was in command of the race, but a crash on stage 14 left him with a broken nose. Not long after, bronchitis set in, visibly affecting his breathing and energy levels, the worst possible scenario mid Tour. Despite this, he refused to abandon and, in classic Hinault style, rode through the pain.

The key turning point came in the mountains, where his teammate Greg LeMond, stronger on the day, was ordered to hold back to protect Hinault’s lead. It was a controversial moment, but Hinault’s resolve to see the race through, despite injury, illness, and pressure, remains one of the gutsiest efforts in Tour history.

He won the 1985 Tour by just under 2 minutes ahead of LeMond, and with it winning his fifth yellow jersey. It was not his most dominant display, but perhaps his most heroic.

If one rider set the standard for total domination at a Grand Tour, it’s Eddy Merckx. His 1969 Tour de France performance remains arguably the most complete ever produced by a rider in a single edition of any Grand Tour. Not only did he win the overall classification by nearly 18 minutes, he also claimed the points and mountains classifications, plus six individual stages.

What makes Merckx’s 1969 Tour so iconic is the fact that he was just 24 years old and it was his Tour debut. He attacked with the freedom and fearlessness of a man who didn’t yet recognise his own limits. On stage 17, Merckx soloed over four climbs to win by more than eight minutes, laying waste to his GC rivals and securing the yellow jersey in the most emphatic way imaginable.

No rider has replicated this GC-points-KOM treble since. In an era with less specialisation and greater physical demands placed on all-rounders, Merckx’s 1969 ride remains the purest embodiment of what it means to be the best in every department. Pedersen won’t match that breadth, but in terms of excelling within his own category, he’s on track to achieve something extraordinary.

If Pedersen wants to be remembered as the greatest sprinter at a single Giro, he will need to eclipse Mario Cipollini’s 2002 campaign. At the age of 35, Cipollini rolled back the years to win six stages, still the post-war record for a sprinter at a single edition of the Giro.

Cipollini didn’t just win stages. He dominated them. Backed by a Domina Vacanze team completely dedicated to delivering him to the line, he powered through flat stages with unmatched speed and precision. His wins came on stages 1, 3, 9, 15, 18, and 20, demonstrating both consistency and staying power over the three weeks.

His efforts helped to redefine the role of the sprinter in Grand Tours. No longer just passengers waiting for flat finishes, sprinters were now headline acts. Cipollini didn’t compete for the GC or wear the Maglia Rosa, but he animated the race in his own way, and was loved by the fans for it.

That same celebration is building now around Pedersen. If he adds three more wins, the comparison becomes undeniable. If he gets four, it may be time to rewrite the record books.

Remember, Cipollini is the man who has won the most Giro stages ever, with a whopping 42 victories ahead of Alfredo Binda, 41. Whilst it is safe to say Pedersen, and the rest of the peloton, will probably never touch those numbers, the Dane can add to his tally over the next 10 days or so, before the true mountain tests begin.

With three wins in five days and the leader’s jersey on his back, Pedersen has already delivered the kind of Giro performance that most riders dream of. His versatility has impressed, he can win in sprints and survive the hills along the way too.

He isn’t riding solely for stage wins either. The fact that he’s wearing pink shows how complete his campaign has been so far. While it’s unlikely he’ll keep the jersey in the high mountains, it’s possible that he’ll remain a presence near the top of the general classification until the climbing intensifies.

It’s this broader contribution to the race (beyond just the bunch sprints) that’s fuelling comparisons with the greats. Of course, Tadej Pogacar’s back-to-back six-stage slaughters at the 2024 Giro and Tour remain on a different tier. The Slovenian’s destruction of GC rivals while racking up stage wins defies categorisation.

But within the world of sprinters and stage hunters, Pedersen may be on the cusp of history. Three wins already. More sprint stages to come. If he hits five or six, with consistent high finishes elsewhere, we may be talking about the best Giro d’Italia by a sprinter since Cipollini, or ever.

And who knows? With the confidence of wearing pink and the momentum of three wins already, Mads Pedersen’s Giro might just become the defining performance of his career. How many stage wins do you think Pedersen will end up with, let us know below.