"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."
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- Nothing much is up for grabs if you don’t even fight for the win - which is how Del Toro rode today regarding Yates taking victory from him.AndrewK31-05-2025
- Felix Serna says it exactly right about Del Toro. How could anyone just voluntarily give up victory in that manner? Carapaz obviously was trying to fight for the win, but I think clearly he ended up disgusted by the way Del Toro was riding - not even willing to ride hard on the descent to fight for the win - and thus in the end Carapaz just felt what can I do with someone riding like this.AndrewK31-05-2025
- Del Toro made no meaningful effort to defend the jersey from Yates on the road taking it from him. Amazing lack of fight.AndrewK31-05-2025
- Pog at the giro was great to watch for a time - I found his greed in winning stages a turnoff, rather than put time into rivals without needing to chase down riders and deprive them. But that’s racingCrashjames31-05-2025
- With a whole team only a mic and earpiece away.Mistermaumau31-05-2025
- Really weird that neither one nor the other latched onto Yates but there you go.Mistermaumau31-05-2025
- Like a watered down version of THAT TdFMistermaumau31-05-2025
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- Really good ending to the race. Am sure Adam will still celebrate, in secret. Probably a good thing long-term for Del Toro, he’ll realise things aren’t always as easy as they can seem.Mistermaumau31-05-2025
- This is on both Carapaz and Del Torro and their respective teams they both threw away everything to make sure neither of them could win… blind stupid tactics. Chapeau Simon Yates, cracking ride deserves the winslappers6631-05-2025
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.