Lidl-Trek impressed by Pedersen but admit Van der Poel is too strong: "We no longer had any hope that Mads would be able to come back"

There was simply no stopping Mathieu van der Poel at Friday’s E3 Saxo Classic. The former world champion powered away from the field in a dominant solo display, leaving his rivals trailing in his wake. Mads Pedersen gave chase but ultimately had to settle for second, comfortably the best of the rest.

The Dane, a former world champion himself, will now lead Lidl-Trek at both Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday and Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday. While Van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar are skipping both races, Lidl-Trek remain confident they can challenge for victory.

Reflecting on E3, team boss Steven de Jongh shared his thoughts in In de Leiderstrui and praised the performance of the team despite Van der Poel’s untouchable form right now.

"As a team we were the best of the rest, that is the prevailing feeling. Mads was impressive on the Taaienberg, but we all know that Mathieu is in very good shape. We all saw that last week in Milan-Sanremo. We knew he would be the toughest customer."

Once Van der Poel made his move, de Jongh admitted they never truly believed Pedersen could close the gap to the flying Dutchman.

"We no longer had any hope that Mads would be able to come back. Mathieu was actually running ahead the whole time, so that was a difficult situation. We hesitated for a moment whether we should let Ganna come back, but in our eyes he didn't look very fresh anymore. Then we decided not to do that, and I think that was the right choice."

Encouragingly for the team, Pedersen’s performance suggested a return to his top level.

"In Milan-Sanremo he had a good level, but he was not at his very best there. Now it was the old-fashioned Mads again."

It wasn’t just Pedersen who impressed. De Jongh was keen to highlight the strength of the entire team at E3.

"Alex Kirsch rode a good race and set the men up perfectly for the Taaienberg, but Jasper Stuyven and Toms Skujins were also very strong. As a team we just rode very well, so that is really nice."

One rider still finding his form is Mathias Vacek, who returned to racing at E3 following injury and illness.

"Vacek fell in Strade Bianche and his knee had to be stitched up, but he was also very ill afterwards. He was in bed with a fever for a week, so he lost a lot of his form. The E3 was his first race again and that is not exactly the easiest race to start again. He will get better, but we should not count on that until Paris-Roubaix. I expect that to be his best race."

Looking ahead to the next week of racing, de Jongh was clear: Lidl-Trek are going all in for results, regardless of who lines up.

"Every race we start in, we try to win. Whether it's Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen or the Tour of Flanders: in every race we just go for it."

Sprinter Jonathan Milan will bolster the squad for the upcoming races, providing added firepower in the sprints. Yet de Jongh remains realistic about the scale of the challenge ahead, especially with Van der Poel and Pogacar looming over the major Spring Classics.

"It will be very difficult to beat Mathieu, especially when you consider that Tadej will also be joining us. Sometimes you have a year like that, but they can also encounter something. I hope that something like that will not happen, but you can also have some bad luck. I especially hope that we will see some nice duels."