Mads Pedersen glorious at long last at Vuelta a Espana: "This is great for all of us"

Trek - Segafredo have spent already a significant amount of days working in the peloton towards the chances of Mads Pedersen to take a stage win, but only on the 13th day of racing at the Vuelta a Espana did they bring in the great reward from all the work.

“The boys did a great job today. They stayed focused the entire ride. I am very happy that I won for them too. This is great for all of us," Pedersen said in a post-race interview. He was a big favourite for today's stage with some uphill gradients in Montilla, however the competition was tough. He managed to get himself up to perfect position into the final uphill 700 meters however and be able to quickly respond to a threatening move.

“After Alex dropped me off at 800 meters, I was able to join Jumbo-Visma and then Ackermann. Following Ackermann was already a sprint for me, so in the end it was a very long sprint today," he described the final sprint. When the German cracked however Pedersen had a clear run, and took a comfortable win with several bike lenghts over his nearest rival Bryan Coquard.

“We now have the ride we wanted. Now we want one more. I have the jersey comfortably around my shoulders,” Pedersen concluded. His lead in the points classification has been extended substantially, and the Dane has concluded his goal of finally taking a stage win after several attempts. It should be a less stressful ride into Madrid now.