"Our lead-out train crumbled" - Mads Pedersen left frustrated with 9th placed finish on first bunch sprint of 2023 Tour de France
Cycling
The first bunch sprint finish of the 2023 Tour de France was not a happy hunting ground for Mads Pedersen. In his first chance at taking a stage win at the race this year, the Lidl-Trek sprinter was forced to settle for ninth position.
"It was abnormally hectic. Fifty kilometres from the finish we already started racing at full speed," the 27-year-old Danish sprinter revealed in his post-stage interview. “It was super fast all the time. You are then always kind of stuck in the position you have. It was so restless that our lead-out train crumbled at one point. Some of my teammates got boxed in on the left side of the road, so I had to manoeuvre headlong to the right. But then the boys suddenly got space again. That was unfortunately a mistake on my part. But it is what it is."
Jasper Philipsen was the eventual winner of the day, surviving a lengthy jury review after a protest from Jumbo-Visma. Tomorrow and stage 4 will be another predicted sprint finish and for Pedersen, it marks a chance at redemption.
“The guys worked hard all day to put me in an ideal sprint position. That's why I'm sorry that I didn't manage to reward that work," he concludes. "I am convinced that we will come back stronger. This is not why I came to the Tour."
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He didn't even try to sprint all outvappaxbipmv18-10-2026
- Campenaerts looked like a rolling pumpkin with that all orange leaders skinsuit !frieders318-10-2026
- He can take his dumb a$$ politics somehwere else !frieders318-10-2026
- good to have her back. fingers crossed she‘ll be able to stay!Ketterechts17-10-2026
- A tenner and he wins the Tour next year, too 😂anonymouscyclist17-10-2026
- the answer is either stick to classics or GTs but not bothabstractengineer17-10-2026
- the exodus already stared with Ciccone. Already they were struggling with two sprinters, now there are three. Also Ganna will demand leadership. Gall is the most proven GC, Ayuso has the most potential. GC leadership for everybody will be impossible. Literally a UAE style mess without pogi.abstractengineer17-10-2026
- I raced as an amateur for 12 years, including six years on my country’s national road cycling team. I secured two national titles and competed in three World Championships plus more than 15 international stage races. At 23, we travelled to Italy for a training camp—or so I assumed. On a rest day, we watched a presentation about adopting a more “professional” training approach. It was crystal clear what “professional” meant. That moment first exposed me to this dilemma. After returning from Italy, I left cycling—at least at the competitive level I had known. Over the following two years, the whole team was caught doping. I hold that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. In my view, current stakeholders operate on a different scale, and the sums involved are vast. I am unsure whether any doping would ever be revealed. I try to stay positive and enjoy the show. My 2c.
vannpelt17-10-2026 - Fiver he wins 🤣
leedorney17-10-2026 - “…measures to reduce speeds.” Might as well shorten the race course to just 50km as well? ASO generates at minimum €300m a year and 30- 40% profit. Maybe stop being greedy and spend more of the profit to protect the riders instead.b3tlla17-10-2026
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That #TDF2023 finale was spicy 🌶️🔥 so it’s no wonder @Mads__Pedersen needs to cool down 🧊 after it!
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