"That was the exact plan" - Mads Pedersen over the moon with Lidl-Trek's perfect job on opening Giro d'Italia day
Cycling
Lidl-Trek began the Giro d'Italia with a plan and executed it to perfection on stage 1. Mads Pedersen won the opening stage of the Corsa Rosa and has taken on the pink jersey, result of a hard pace on the final day and perfect control over the peloton.
"This is my favourite [stage] now. To win the stage and go in the pink jersey is amazing, specially after team work like this... It's really incredible that the team works that hard and I can pay back with a win," Pedersen said in a post-race interview.
The American team could take advantage of the extensive work that Team Visma | Lease a Bike did throughout the entire stage, and then had the men to take control of the race from the penultimate descent onwards. They positioned themselves perfectly into the final climb, where Giulio Ciccone took control of the peloton.
"[The plan was] Like we did. You can see it on TV, that was the exact plan, to push really hard on the climb, make it a small group and into a sprint". The pace was high and no-one even dared to disrupt a potential sprint there, and in the final kilometers the speed was too high for anyone to escape the peloton. Hence, a sprint was inevitable.
Pedersen only had one rider who could directly battle with him in the finale, and so a luxurious leadout wasn't necessary. "You always have to be afraid of Wout [van Aert], he is a really really good bike rider and yeah it's not given to win when he is in the group. So you have to handle that with respect and a little bit of fear, but today I had the legs to finish it off for the team".
Pedersen took the victory, albeit by a small margin, but enough to take the pink jersey and fulfill the main goal of this race. "Of course, it's the first leader's jersey I have in a Grand Tour so it's something nice". Tomorrow in the time-trial in Tirana it will be an interesting challenge to try and maintain it, which is very possible.
An amazing start for the Team at @giroditalia!
— Lidl-Trek (@LidlTrek) May 9, 2025
Incredible teamwork from everyone from start to finish today 👊💪 Long may it continue over the next three weeks 💞 pic.twitter.com/kjnsYGUxvh
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 2visitors 2
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment