"Time to repay him for all the work he has done" - Mads Pedersen keen to give back to Mathias Vacek at the Giro d'Italia

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."

With Vacek crossing the line in 21st, 34 seconds down, it was Giulio Ciccone who was best placed of the Lidl-Trek team in 5th, 4 seconds off stage winner Juan Ayuso. "Ciccone was obviously also motivated," Pedersen comments. "We are in Italy, close to his home region."

"It was a fantastic week in pink, something I will always remember and be super proud of. With all the work and so on, it was an incredible week for the team," concludes Pedersen, who is now, as mentioned, keen to give back to his teammates as the race departs his most favourable terrain. "We are going into the weekend with a lot of confidence. We are now entering Vacek's turf, so it might be time to repay him for all the work he has done."