Mads Pedersen lined up to Tour de Pologne as one of its biggest stars and attention drawers, however the first three stages with hill-top finish didn't exactly fit the Dane's profile. Hence he must've been very much looking forward to the expected sprinter stages on days 4, 5 and 7. But Pedersen only gets one sprint chance in Poland as a crash in the fifth stage forces the former world champion to abandon the race.
For the fourth stage, his teammates from Lidl-Trek did everything possible to prepare a luxury position for their leader. Frankly the last leadout man stepped out a touch too early and Pedersen ended up serving as a luxury leadout for winner Olav Kooij as the Dane himself crossed the line in third place.
The following day seemed like a perfect opportunity to get back at his opponents with another flat stage with both start and finish in Katowice. Pedersen appeared to be in an ideal position in the run up to the final kilometers of the stage until a crash a with just a bit more than 3 km to go took out many riders including favourites such as Phil Bauhaus and the before mentioned Pedersen.
The 28-year-old was able to finish the stage, but later after an evaluation on his team hotel, it was decided he won't continue his adventure in Poland in favor of healing his wounds with view to remaining goals for 2024. This includes both the European (September 15) and World Championships (Spetember 29). Especially at the Continental chapionships in Belgium, we must count Pedersen among main favourites.
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