"At times there is a harsh tone in the media about Wout van Aert. He does not deserve that" - Mads Pedersen hails rival as "one of the greatest riders of this era"

The conversation around Wout van Aert after Dwars door Vlaanderen has centred on another near miss. Inside the peloton, the tone is very different.

Mads Pedersen has moved to challenge the way Van Aert is being discussed, pushing back against the criticism that often follows his defeats. “At times, there is a harsh tone in the media about Wout van Aert. He does not deserve that,” Pedersen said in conversation with TV 2 Sport.

From the outside, the result is simple. Van Aert was defeated in the final metres for the second year running. But for those racing alongside him, the context carries more weight than the outcome.

Pedersen saw that up close. Rather than questioning the result, his reaction was immediate and personal. It is not a common exchange in the moments after a race, particularly between riders who are direct rivals for the same victories. But for Pedersen, the effort behind the result demanded that response. “To see him miss a win like that again… Last year, you could almost laugh a bit and think, ‘What are you doing?’ But this year it almost hurts to see him lose like that.”

Pedersen’s perspective is shaped by more than a single race. Like Van Aert, he operates in the same space within the sport, targeting the same one-day races and often finding himself in the same finales.

That overlap brings a level of understanding that goes beyond results. “I can’t say exactly why I needed to say it to him, but in that moment I just felt I had to tell him that I have enormous respect for him as a person and as a rider, and for the way he handles both the ups and downs,” says Pedersen. “Wout is also one of the riders I talk to in the peloton, and I just have great respect for him both on and off the bike, and for how he does things.”

It is in that context that Pedersen placed Van Aert among the very best of his generation. “He is also one of the greatest riders of this era.”

That assessment stands in contrast to the tone that often surrounds Van Aert’s results, where the focus tends to fall on what he has not won rather than how he has raced.

Pedersen was direct in addressing that gap. “He does not deserve that, because people forget how many hours and how much work goes into this. I know better than most how much work he puts in, because I do the same as him.”

In a week where Van Aert has again come close without taking victory, the divide between perception and reality has rarely been clearer. Outside the peloton, the result invites scrutiny. Inside it, the performance has only reinforced the respect he commands.