Mads Pedersen over the moon with "really special" Vuelta a Espana

After being a last-minute call to the Vuelta a Espana, Mads Pedersen and Trek - Segafredo would've never expected how wildly successful they could be in Spain this summer. The Dane is leaving the three-week race with three wins and a dominant points classification win to wrap off the season.

“I am just super super happy for this Vuelta. To have the green jersey here and three wins, it’s really special. I am really thankful to the whole team, fighting, and I think we showed that a team with different types of riders can survive for sprints, what I am good at," Pedersen said after being coronated winner of the points classification by a large margin in Madrid. "All our climbers were digging so deep every day to perform in the sprints, and that shows that if everyone has the commitment, and the teamwork is there, we can fight for wins no matter terrain.”

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The Dane finished second on stages two, three and four, and despite all the work from Trek, they could not fight for the win on stage seven. It was a complicated start for the team which saw Kenny Elissonde and Juan Pedro López fail to target the overall classification, but entering the second week the whole race turned around. As the team put all focus on Pedersen, he jumped into a commanding lead of the classification as Sam Bennett abandoned with Covid-19, and quickly everything fell back into place.

Pedersen won the explosive finales to stages 13 and 16, and unexpectedly saw a sprint at the 19th stage where he won once again. His versatility and immense form over the race saw him consolidate the classification, but after taking a stage win at the Tour de France, to add another three at the Vuelta was beyond every expectations.

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“We would have loved to win today [stage 21], but I am super happy with these three weeks, it was way better than we expected," he said, finishing another second place in the final stage, however with no regrets after such a successful race and season.

He won't be racing the World Championships, as he completed 82 days of racing, 10 of which he won over several French races and now late in the year. "It’s been a long season and I am looking forward to going home now and almost call it a season and close the book. I am happy with this Vuelta; it’s a nice feeling right now. I still have some races in October, but first I go home and take a week off," he concluded, revealing his season is not yet done, as he looks to return to racing before a well deserved off-season.

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