“Stay in front and stay out of troubles” - Mads Pedersen eyes points and safety in unpredictable Giro Stage 18

Stage 18 of the Giro d’Italia could be a day for the breakaway, or for a sprint, and Mads Pedersen is ready for both. The Danish man of the moment, currently wearing the points leader’s maglia ciclamino, knows there’s more than one way to defend his jersey on a stage like this. Whether it ends in a sprint or a breakaway could come down to decisions made by Lidl-Trek and a handful of other teams.

“It’s a hard stage to read,” Pedersen admitted to Cycling Pro Net ahead of the start. “It’s a good question actually, because so many scenarios can happen today.” From a tactical standpoint, Trek have options. “It can be ideally for us to put VK (Vacek) in the breakaway,” he said. “It can also be having me in the break or whatever.”

But one objective stands above all. “The main thing is for us to kind of secure the ciclamino jersey today,” Pedersen explained. “And if we have to do that by putting a breakaway and letting that go to the finish line, and no points for the rest of us, then it’s what we have to do.”

Pedersen leads the points classification, but with a few sprint opportunities still remaining, nothing is guaranteed. The route to Milan is still long, and how Trek approach Stage 18 could have a lasting impact on the battle for purple.

Asked whether he expects a sprint or breakaway, Pedersen was honest, “It’s a really good question. I would love to give you a good answer on this one, but I find it 50/50 on what it could be.” His team’s depth and strength make them a central player in the day’s outcome. “It looks like it’s a bit your team who have the keys,” the interviewer noted. Pedersen didn’t disagree but was quick to clarify, “We don’t want necessarily to control this stage. You know, if the right break is gone, we leave it and then they can go to the finish line.”

And if it does come down to a bunch sprint, the final in Milan offers little margin for error. “Sprints are always difficult,” Pedersen acknowledged. “Finding the right train and then stay in front, you know it’s a technical finish, and you never know with crashes and so on. We don’t want to throw away 50 points on the finish line.”

His message was clear: control if necessary, adapt if needed, but don’t take unnecessary risks. “Stay in front and stay out of troubles,” Pedersen said.