"I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes on Cipressa" - Mads Pedersen readying himself for early Tadej Pogacar attack at Milano-Sanremo

Lidl-Trek have the potential to be real spoilers this weekend at Milano-Sanremo. Although much of the pre-race headlines are surrounding Tadej Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock, the in-form duo of Mads Pedersen and Jonathan Milan could end up on the top step of the final podium.

As mentioned, both are heading to the first Monument of 2025 in good form too. For Pedersen, a positive showing at Paris-Nice last week saw the Dane take home a stage win and the Green Jersey. "I feel good, I feel good in the climbs," says Pedersen in conversation with his team's official website, paying referencing to an emergence of arguably the best climbing legs of his career last week. "I think we need to take into account that at Paris-Nice the weather was bad when we were climbing which of course helps me a lot when it’s cold and rain like this. In the end, the climbing legs are definitely there and I’m happy with the shape I have right now."

Pedersen is also quick to put down the idea that an improvement in his climbing legs could diminish his sprint in some way too. "I’m not at all worried that my climbing improvement has come at the expense of my sprint. We also have to take into account that I was never a pure sprinter, so comparing me to Tim Merlier or Jasper Philipsen – when was the last time I was beating them in a flat sprint?" Pedersen questions. "So we just have to keep that in mind, I’m not a pure sprinter like Jonny is. I’m not concerned at all."

Because of the fact that Pedersen isn't a true, out and out sprinter, the Dane is willing to play helper to teammate Milan if the finale requires it. “The more numbers you have in a final, the better it is, so of course it would be super ideal for us if we have the numbers both at the top of Cipressa, and definitely after the Poggio. It’s nice to go into Sanremo with such a good team. It’s not a secret that Jonny is the fastest of us in a sprint, so if it is coming down to that then of course we sprint for Jonny," he explains. "But, even if there is a group going over the Poggio together, we’ve seen before that people are sometimes not going for a sprint in the end, how we handle that is something we need to discuss in our pre-race meeting."

"For sure, if someone sees Jonny in the group at the bottom of the Poggio then they for sure don’t want to bring him to the finish line. Then hopefully me and Jasper will be there as well, and we will have to cover the guys who want to go before the finish. If it’s a sprint, it’s for Jonny," Pedersen continues. “If Tadej Pogacar goes early it will make it a longer final. I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes on Cipressa and wants to go long from there. It means for sure we will try to follow him and after Cipressa there would be a smaller group going into the Poggio."

"For me, I think it would be fine, the only bad part of it is that it’s Pogi, and if he goes already on the Cipressa, well normally when he goes you never see him again, but it could be different in this race because of the downhill and hopefully a good group who wants to work together from the Cipressa, all the way to the Poggio. In this case, I hope it’s just favourites working together. For sure some teams would be more than just one guy, so they will also work, but I hope it would be just a group who agrees on helping each other," Pedersen concludes. “I will do my absolute best in every race I’m starting at, no matter what it is. Winning a classic is special, no matter which one it is. The Monument is the dream scenario, but you can’t sit up if you win one. I didn’t work all through winter to just sit up if I win one of them. It’s full gas until Roubaix is done.”