"It's going to be hard to dislodge Mads" - Competition struggles to take down Mads Pedersen from Etoile de Bessèges lead

Mads Pedersen has put on very strong performances over 2023 and has proven himself as a strong climber. The Etoile de Bessèges lacks big ascents where the Lidl-Trek rider may suffer seriously, and rival Kévin Vauquelin is unsure if they will be able to drop the Dane at any point in the race.

The Arkéa - B&B Hotels rider rode to a strong place in the GP La Marseillaise and carried great form into Bessèges. He was third in the first stage into Rousson. On stage 3 with some longer ascents, the Frenchman looked to put Pedersen under pressure and attempted to attack in the final kilometer in order to take over the race lead and his first win of the year.

"I saw the opening at the kilometer mark, I said to myself: 'you never know'. It was a gamble. I preferred to try that rather than knocking myself out on the ground, It was a lot of friction," the 22-year old added. "I tried to play a little,” Vauquelin shared with L'Équipe following the stage.

The attack proved unsuccessful and Pedersen won the stage, expanding his lead. Pedersen won the race's final time-trial last year and it will be hard to remove him from the race lead this time around, so today's hilltop finish in Méjannes-le-Clap (4.4Km; 4.6%) should be the final opportunity. "The main thing was to stay placed in the general. We'll see how it goes tomorrow, but it's going to be hard to dislodge Mads," he believes.