“Olav is simply faster in a sprint like this” - Mads Pedersen second again behind Olav Kooij on stage 5 of Paris-Nice

Having finished second to Olav Kooij on the opening stage of Paris-Nice, Mads Pedersen was the runner-up once again behind the Dutchman in the sprint in Sisteron on stage 5. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider flew around the Dane in the final hundred metres, with Pedersen unable to hold him off, as he launched his sprint with just under 300 metres to go after a near-perfect leadout from his Lidl-Trek team.

In a post-race interview, Pedersen seemed content with his efforts and those of his teammates, as he said that “the sprint went quite well. I had a good lead-out, we did well. But I just got beat by someone who was faster. It is what it is”.

After having had his pocket picked in a sprint by Kooij for the second time this week, Pedersen seemingly accepted that he was the second-fastest rider at the race, as he said that “Olav is simply faster in a sprint like this. In a high-speed sprint like this he is super, super fast. It's not easy for me. Today he also came from the slipstream, with a lot of speed. I have no excuses. He’s just faster”.

Although a stage win still eludes him, Pedersen will now be hoping to hold on to the maillot vert for the rest of the race, as he leads the points classification by four points over Laurence Pithie with three stages remaining. Looking ahead to the rest of the race, the Danish rider said “I’m here to win a stage. I have this jersey now, which is okay, but it’s not what I came for. We keep fighting for a win, at least for the team. Then we will see in Nice whether I still have the green”.