“Then I exploded in the final 50 metres and Tadej and another rider came past" - Mads Pedersen admits he was not at his best in Vuelta sprint finish
Cycling
Mads Pedersen felt the Vuelta a Espana second stage was like coming back from the off-season as he felt his usual final kick missing in the finale of stage 2. Finishing on uphill drag to the line, the Lidl-Trek rider was among the favourites for the stage, but ran out of gas and was beaten by Matthew Brennan.
Not only that, but the Dane was beaten to the podium in the final meters as Pau miquel and Tadej Pogacar rounded out the podium. With some ground still to make up ahead of more stages that suit him this week, Pedersen described the feeling.
In an admission with team leader Mattias Skjelmose, Pedersen said he still has work to do in order to find his best legs as the race heads to Spain and Andorra this week.
“I didn't have my best day,” Pedersen told TV2. “Skjelly [Skjelmose, Ed.] described it really well. It feels a bit like coming back after the offseason. I clearly still need to get going again.”
Pogacar and Miquel pass Pedersen in sprint to line
Despite describing his sensations and the sprint itself as okay, he heaped praise on Visma's win as Brennan found a higher gear. A loss is a loss for Pedersen, who doesn't see much difference on whether he was second or ultimately fourth.
“It actually went fine enough. I just didn't have the legs in the sprint,” he said. “Brennan is insanely fast in a sprint like this and I wasn't fast enough."
“Then I exploded in the final 50 metres and Tadej and another rider came past as well. But it doesn't really matter whether you finish second or fourth, does it?”
With the heat proving difficult for the Dane, he admitted that training can only point you in the right direction and that racing in heat is a different prospect.
“It is different to start racing in the heat compared to training in it. But that shouldn't be an excuse. I don't want that hanging over me. I just wasn't good enough to win today. But it is still pretty good to be that close despite not having my best day.”
Matthew Brennan wins stage 2 of the Vuelta
Heat takes its toll on Pedersen
Lidl-Trek sports director Kim Anderson gave some insight into how their riders and Pedersen handles the heat - noting that the searing heat had Pedersen in particular under strain as they tried to keep cool.
“He came back because he needed as much cold water as possible and needed to cool down,” Andersen said. “But as he told me afterwards, he was basically already cooked by then.”
“We had asked in the meeting whether we could be allowed to provide bottles everywhere so we could give them more. They said that would happen when it got hotter. I don't know whether it can get much hotter than it was today.”
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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