"I fell at 65 kilometres per hour" - Race leader Mads Pedersen doesn't get to enjoy sprint opportunity in Napoli

Mads Pedersen had been thus far enjoying a perfect Giro d'Italia, with three stage wins in five days and almost as many in the pink jersey. Today was a good opportunity to fight for the win in Napoli, but he gave up on that plan after falling at high speed.

"It's not ideal. I fell, so that never makes it easy. It could have ended worse, because I fell at 65 kilometres per hour. That's never good for the body and I can feel that too," Pedersen said in words to CyclingPro.net.

This happened with over 70 kilometers to go and Pedersen saw it ahead of him, but he just could not prevent it from happening. "I saw a few men go in front of me and I couldn't go anywhere. I just slid away, it was very slippery there and within a second you're on the ground".

The pink jersey wasn't too injured, and even cracked a smile in the interview. However, at the time of the race, it certainly was enough to convince him to take it easy. "The choice was made and that was fine. I had already told the team that I wouldn't sprint, because I was in pain and it was still a long way to Rome. That's why I gave up those 50 points". Pedersen was not aware that the race organizers decided not to award points for the Maglia Ciclamino classification, which means his lead stays the same. 

"I want to race and win, but after that fall I had pain in my right hip. I just wasn't ready for that sprint. It wasn't a choice not to sprint: I simply couldn't have won," he admits. He will start tomorrow's stage to Tagliacozzo in the race lead, but he doesn't fool himself regarding the chances of keeping it: "I'm going to enjoy my last day in the pink jersey," he concluded.