"It's a good step forward compared to yesterday" - Mads Pedersen much happier with the work of his sprint train
Cycling
Mads Pedersen voiced dissatisfaction with the work of his sprint train after the first stage of Paris-Nice when the Danish rider didn't even reach the top-10. However the second stage with finish in Bellgrade went much better when he initially placed 4th and, after the relegation of Hugo Page, moved up onto the podium.
"It went like we planned and what we wanted to change from yesterday," Pedersen said afterwards in an interview for Cycling Pro Net. "So of course a podium would have been nice but it's a good step forward and especially in a sprint that doesn't really suit me."
"The last 5 kilometers were just too straightforward, nothing to take the speed out of peloton or anything. And when it's straightforward like this, the riders are more fresh. It's harder to control where to position yourself and the team."
"The positioning battle at the front starts quite early in this race, already at 60-70 kilometers to go with GC teams at the front. We can't even pull anymore with the guys we want to pull with. The stress level is incredibly high. Maybe that's just racing nowadays."
Results of Paris-Nice stage 2:
| Position | Rider | Team | Time |
| 01 | Merlier Tim | Soudal Quick-Step | 04:11:29 |
| 02 | Jeannière Emilien | Team TotalEnergies | + 00 |
| 03 | Pedersen Mads | Lidl-Trek | + 00 |
| 04 | Kristoff Alexander | Uno-X Mobility | + 00 |
| 05 | Kielich Timo | Alpecin-Deceuninck | + 00 |
| 06 | Zingle Axel | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | + 00 |
| 07 | Démare Arnaud | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | + 00 |
| 08 | Govekar Matevz | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 |
| 09 | Jakobsen Fabio | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 |
| 10 | Bol Cees | XDS Astana Team | + 00 |
| 11 | Del Grosso Tibor | Alpecin-Deceuninck | + 00 |
| 12 | Fedorov Yevgeniy | XDS Astana Team | + 00 |
| 13 | Leitão Iúri | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 00 |
| 14 | Molano Sebastian | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | + 00 |
| 15 | Aniolkowski Stanislaw | Cofidis | + 00 |
| 16 | Riesebeek Oscar | Alpecin-Deceuninck | + 00 |
| 17 | van Dijke Mick | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | + 00 |
| 18 | Walscheid Max | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 |
| 19 | Trentin Matteo | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | + 00 |
| 20 | Jansen Amund Grøndahl | Uno-X Mobility | + 00 |
| 21 | Vinokurov Nicolas | XDS Astana Team | + 00 |
| 22 | Doull Owain | EF Education-EasyPost | + 00 |
| 23 | Gruel Thibaud | Groupama-FDJ | + 00 |
| 24 | Nicolau Joel | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | + 00 |
| 25 | Izquierdo Clement | Cofidis | + 00 |
Read also
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Ernesto Maggioni - The president of the commissaires Mafia. It is getting evident that this guy is basically "Iamalwaysrightandyouarestupidsoiwontlistentoyou" kind of guy. So fire him so that he can be always right in his homeabstractengineer10-11-2026
- Somehow it has got into his mind that he is a GC rider. He is primarily a classics and stage rider who can perform on GC given his day. As a result he is wasting his time on TDF GC and once committed to GC you are too tired to do anything else.abstractengineer10-11-2026
- 🐐❤️Lozza09-11-2026
- This is such a black eye to women's professional cyclocross if this result remains. Marie Schreiber won this race fairly. This finish is not unlike others in cyclocross. Lots of moving around to get to the finish not to cut anyone off , but to generate a sprint on soft wide tires caked with mud and sand. This is not nearly the same as a road race between two riders sprinting to the finish on faster bikes and thinner firmer tires. The powers in charge need to use some common sense, reverse this result and remember this is Cyclocross not Road racing. Unbelievable. . .Zencycle09-11-2026
- Tis beyond your comprehension fine sir so best not to look on with blind eyes to THE GOATS greatness.
Brucegel09-11-2026 - McNulty winning was beneficial in ensuring the rainbow jersey would not remain winless
Front24209-11-2026 - Eccelente! That's 7 riders in total in Red Bull who come from the devo team, 8 if you include Lipo
Rafionain-Glas09-11-2026 - again, nothing is going to be resolved. it is a discussion board. I simply said I didn't see how MS impeded LBs sprint. the UCI doesn't care about my thoughts, and I am really not that emotionally invested in it.mij09-11-2026
- provoke change, lol. this is a discussion board. nothing is going to change by what I say here. just commenting that it didn't look like MS impeded Brand. beyond that not trying to go too deep.mij09-11-2026
- as excellent as maga rednecks chloe dygert (and quinn simmons)?Ketterechts09-11-2026
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