"Pedersen is a special rider” – Are we witnessing Mads Pedersen’s finest moment?
CyclingMonday, 12 May 2025 at 05:00
Three stages into the 2025 Giro d’Italia, and Mads Pedersen
is already asserting himself as the standout riders of the race. With two
victories from the opening three days, the Danish Lidl–Trek rider reclaimed the
maglia rosa on Sunday and now appears to be in the form of his life.
Following his stage 3 triumph, Pedersen not only took back
the overall lead but also stretched his advantage in the points classification,
a key target for the former world champion. His commanding performances have
caught the attention of analysts and fans alike, including Eurosport’s Bobbie
Traksel and Jip van den Bos.
"He is slowly starting to have a street length lead in
the points classification, that is of course his biggest goal. In that respect,
things are going in the right direction," said Traksel.
So far, Pedersen has looked untouchable in the sprints, and
with few GC threats lurking in the current top ten, there appears to be little
danger to his grip on the pink jersey in the immediate stages to come.
"There is still so much more to come for Pedersen,
there is no real danger for the pink at the moment. If you look at the top ten
of the classification, you don't see any riders who will take bonus seconds
away from him in the sprints," Traksel continued.
It’s a sharp turnaround from pre-race discussions, which
focused heavily on whether Wout van Aert, now chasing form, could hold pink
into the second week. That narrative, according to Traksel, has quickly
shifted.
"Where we talked before the Giro about whether Wout van
Aert could keep the pink jersey until stage sixteen, we are now going to have
that conversation about this Mads Pedersen."
Jip van den Bos echoed the sentiment. "We can't ignore
him," she said. "With two stage wins and a super good time trial, it
can't be otherwise. But others at Lidl–Trek also stand out. For example, Daan
Hoole, who did so much work for his team this weekend."
Indeed, it’s not just Pedersen making headlines. Lidl–Trek’s
collective strength has played a key role in their early success. Traksel and
Van den Bos both praised the support around Pedersen, highlighting the role of
several teammates in delivering results.
"And also with Ciccone and Vacek in the final, and
Konrad and Verona who did a beastly job for Pedersen. He will finish it himself
and is therefore the man who deserves the pink."
Beyond performance, Pedersen continues to defy convention
with his preparation methods. "Pedersen is a special rider," Traksel
added. "For example, he never goes on altitude training, because he
doesn't believe in it. He just wants to ride a lot of races to race as much as
possible."
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Jury & Fines Giro d'Italia 2025 | Update stage 20
Jun 01, 10:56
0
Latest comments
- Yes, I do think he was getting very unhelpful orders. But I was still shocked and sad. At some point I was hoping he would pull the earpiece out and just ride till he was spent!Hill3301-06-2025
- Carapaz wasn't pulling on Finestre. He was repeatedly attacking Del Toro, and then sitting up. He was focused entirely on dropping Del Toro, rather than keeping the two of them ahead. This is why Yates caught them so easily. And when Yates went ahead, Carapaz made no effort to go after him to preserve his 2nd place. He continued to focus on slowing down Del Toro. He succeeded.
Barney01-06-2025 - I would agree that del Toro dropped the ball; however, Carapaz consistently works against the people he is riding with. There have been too many times where he is ahead in a small break, and rather than pulling, he attacks, sits on, and attacks again, disrupting the rhythm.Barney01-06-2025
- dont you think it was instructions from the team car rather than his giving up? he seemed to be following orders throughout the race?Crashjames01-06-2025
- incredible maturity for such a young guy. Pity that UAE DS messed up the tactics on stage 20Crashjames01-06-2025
- Contador's comments are becoming crazier. Carapaz pulled on the climb. Del toro did not. He is not Del toro's teammateabstractengineer01-06-2025
- No Alberto, Del Toro lost it for himself...
leedorney01-06-2025 - What a delusional bloke! Talking about fighting for the overall while being 13 minutes down the GC. It’s evident that his crash into the parked bus damaged not only his performance but brains as well. With Jonas as the best GT rider and other top GT GC riders absent.. it would have been more than 20minutes.
UltimateOpportunist01-06-2025 - However awful UAE's tactics were, and however bad the fear of being cracked again by Carapaz were, it is still almost beyond belief that Del Toro stopped fighting. Very sad, he had shown such fighting spirit.Hill3301-06-2025
- 1 will never know wth was UAE's tactics on this stage other than to lose the Giroleedorney01-06-2025
I wonder if Mads' resurgence has something to do with Lidl-Trek electing to go with Jonathan Milan for Tour de France, thereby relegating Mads to the Giro and missing TDF for the first time in his career. The way he's performing now, he looks like he's out to prove he's still viable as top gun.
Hey, all great and deserving of respect but let’s not look at things too pinkly. He’s only just above Marc Hirschi in the UCI rankings. He’s had the potential to do this for the last 7-8 years, it’s just all come together at once, having his moment. Maybe he went on a secret HA camp :-)
Seriously though, he’s NEVER said he doesn’t believe in it (challenge: find me that quote), he said he hates it in words that would get an F1 driver punished, and for the same reasons that his fellow countryman Jonas gets crucified for, being away from family (though given team budgets, there is an obvious solution to that). Besides, not very professional of media and pundits to linger on past out of date sayings, he’s more or less changed his mind in the meantime and is no longer categoric about refusing to try.