“It just sucks... In that moment, I could still hang with them" - Mads Pedersen left rueing bad luck despite finishing on Paris-Roubaix 2025 podium

Mads Pedersen has looked incredibly strong this Spring, and the Dane has made no secret of the fact that his ultimate goal has been Paris-Roubaix. Sadly for the Lidl-Trek leader however, his wait for a first ever Monument win goes on after a badly-timed mechanical meant the best he could hope for in 2025 was a 3rd placed finish behind Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar.

When Pogacar attacked on the Tilloy à Sars-et-Rosières at around 70km to go, only Van der Poel and Pedersen able to match the world champion. Disastrously for the Dane though, he then suffered a front wheel puncture, putting himself out of the picture at front of the race at the worst possible time and leaving just the two superstars clear.

“It just sucks. We don’t know what could have happened if I hadn’t punctured. It’s a shame that something like that ends up deciding the race. But that’s life. You’ve got to take the good with the bad,” Pedersen reflected of the incident in conversation with Danish broadcasters TV2 shortly after the race. “My legs felt good, and I wasn’t under pressure at that point. In that moment, I could still hang with them. I don’t know if I could have later in the race, but that’s something we’ll never know."

As mentioned, it wasn't all bad for Pedersen in the end as he fought back well to get back in the mix in the chase behind, before eventually outsprinting Wout van Aert and Florian Vermeersch for 3rd spot on the podium, over two minutes down on the eventual winner Van der Poel.