Lidl-Trek have had a very successful start to the 2025
Giro d'Italia, led by three-time stage winner
Mads Pedersen. As the road heads more into the realm of the climbers this weekend though, the Maglia Ciclamino is now keen to give back to his teammates, especially Czech talent
Mathias Vacek, who has played a key role in Pedersen's success.
Although Pedersen lost the Pink Jersey on stage 7 as Primoz Roglic got back into the race lead, the Dane was relatively upbeat afterwards. "We wanted a good result with Vacek because he deserved the chance to go for the pink jersey. With an excellent result, we succeeded. When
Daan Hoole and I started riding at the front, the leading group still had three and a half minutes," he reflected. "We knew that with a fast downhill and a few turns at the front, we could close the gap considerably and that the drag race to the foot of the climb would start automatically. That was the idea: pushing it for five kilometres because the other teams would take over automatically."