24/03/2024

Mads Pedersen outsprints Mathieu van der Poel in thrilling finale at Gent Wevelgem 2024

Mads Pedersen has continued his brilliant start to 2024 by taking victory for the second time in his career, at Gent Wevelgem after a thrilling, two-man final sprint alongside Mathieu van der Poel.

As is often the case, echelons played a big role early on in this year's edition of Gent Wevelgem. With over 100km still to go, there were a lot of riders already caught out behind a lead group of just over 30 riders.

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Van der Poel accelerated things on the Kemmelberg and whilst he wasn't able to fully snap the elastic himself, things became incredibly strung out and a counter-attack from Jonathan Milan saw the Italian edge clear solo.

With an elite chase group of six behind Milan including van der Poel, Mads Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven, Laurence Pithie, Tim van Dijke and Rasmus Tiller, it was the world champion doing much of the work.

It wasn't long before van der Poel's pace setting saw Tiller and van Dijke drop away with a puncture ending Stuyven's time in the lead chase group. With just over 60km to go, Milan was caught, making it 4 riders at the front.

With the pace continuing to be high amongst the leaders, Milan was beginning to pay for his earlier time out front alone and with just over 50km to go, the Italian was dropped, returning to the chasing pack.

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As the leading trio began the final ascent of the Kemmelberg, their advantage was 44 seconds over their nearest chasers. Pedersen was on the front and powering with van der Poel on his wheel. Pithie though showed his first signs of weakness, dropping away.

With Pithie caught by the chasers now over a minute down, van der Poel and Pedersen entered the final 15km with victory all but assured for one of them.

Although there were a few looks between the front duo, they continued working together all the way until the final kilometre. With their lead being cut by the chase though, there was no time for games.

400m to go, Pedersen was on the front and the Dane decided to fire it early. Van der Poel tried incredibly hard but couldn't quite come across as the Lidl-Trek star took the win. In the bunch sprint for third behind, Jordi Meeus completed the podium.