Mads Pedersen: "It was a long sprint, but I knew I could surprise the guys if I opened a little early"

After taking the first win of his season at the Etoile de Bessèges in an uphill sprint, Mads Pedersen has gotten his first World Tour win since the 2020 Gent-Wevelgem today in Dun-le-Palestel.

“It’s not an easy final when you can see the finish line in the last kilometer and a half, so it’s a little waiting game. But like I said already yesterday, I normally don’t take into account too much in the final I just follow wheels," Pedersen said in a post-race interivew.

"So today, I was following Jasper’s wheel, and then when I felt it was time to go, I opened the sprint. Roughly I opened between 250 and 200 meters to go – it was a long sprint, but I knew I could surprise the guys if I opened a little early. When you open that early it’s a risk and I was not so sure it would work, but luckily it was enough to keep the guys behind," Pedersen said. After a stage where the pace was pushed in the small ascents near the finale - which saw the likes of Fabio Jakobsen, Dylan Groenewegen and Sam Bennett dropped - the former World champion had a reduced field in which to contest the sprint. He was delivered to the line in prime position by Stuyven and set off with an incredible sprint that despite being launched early, managed to confidently keep everyone by over a bike length.

He concluded: "It’s my first WordTour win in a long time, and it’s really nice to start out [the season] so well; it’s a good direction for the classics that are coming in a few weeks. It was a long time since our last victory; we needed this. It’s nice to have confidence, and that is what’s coming out of this. The shape is good, but it can be better.”