Mads Pedersen: "Three wins is much more than we had hoped for"

Mads Pedersen had a consistent but hard start to the Vuelta a Espana with three second places on the first three road stages, but his races has been increasingly better as it goes, as he's taken his third win today in Talavera de la Reina.

“It was really hard to control the pack. Our team was so impressive. Everyone was so dedicated, they worked really hard. The break of the day with Brandon McNulty was strong. We rode as fast as we could to get them back as soon as possible," Pedersen said in a post-race interview. "Everyone on this team was so, so impressive today. I am very grateful to them. This is a win for them. I wouldn't have had a chance without my team. Wow!"

Trek had a suiting day to their skillset as Pedersen rode over the day's climbs in the peloton, and took advantage of the work from Bahrain - Victorious to have the likes of Pascal Ackermann and Tim Merlier off he back. It was a regular sprint in the end, however one which was almost spoiled by a late attack from Miles Scotson. “But I still have Antonio Tiberi ahead of me. He looks thin, but he is a small, strong boy. I knew he was able to keep the gap as small as possible, that I could still get over it in the sprint."

"It's never easy in a final like this, with a lot of strong guys in the pack. Then if one of them attacks on a roundabout, I have to close it myself and it is more difficult to sprint. That's why I was very happy with the speed the guys kept," he added. Pedersen was the first to launch his sprint, and although it seemed complicated to manage, he crossed the line first as he kept the speed and held off Fred Wright.

“Three wins is much more than we had hoped for. It's super, super nice. Saturday we have to survive and then we see what is still possible in Madrid. But whatever happens, I think we can be very happy with our three weeks in Spain," he concluded.