"If my sports director tells me to ride, then I'll ride": Mads Pedersen doesn't second-guess his tasks

It was a strange stalemate among GC riders in stage 11. Although the stage developed in a fashion that would favour brave attack, only Richard Carapaz was willing to gamble on the last climb - and was rewarded. Behind the Ecuadorian, Lidl-Trek's Giulio Ciccone rounded off the podium in a sprint.

The tactics of Lidl-Trek will have many shaking their heads. Initially, Mads Pedersen helped to plant Mathias Vacek in the breakaway, but the stage turned out to be too hard for the Czech rider. The Dane later returned to the reduced group of favourites and immediately set a heavy pace in the descent, seemingly setting up an attack for leader Giulio Ciccone. But that never came.

After the stage, the wearer of Maglia Ciclamino was asked about the gameplan: "I'm just doing my job. If my sports director tells me to ride, then I'll ride. He's my boss and he pays me," Pedersen argued.

After all, it was the best way to put himself to use at that part of the stage, Pedersen explains. "These long climbs are horrible. I have to climb at my own pace. So when I'm riding in front, I can keep the pace I want. If the others want to pass me, I let them!"

Pedersen was also asked about whether Lidl-Trek should be asked by other teams to carry the weight of the race when the potentially dangerous group for GC broke away: "The closest rider in the breakaway overall was four minutes away, so for UAE Team Emirates, it wasn't a threat. In their position, we would have done the same."

We're past the halfway mark of this Giro; is Pedersen happy with his Giro so far? "I'm never satisfied. If there's an opportunity, I try to seize it. So we'll put a plan in place and try to win again tomorrow."