"We will try to seal it tomorrow" - Mads Pedersen confirms ambitious plans for Tour queen stage
Cycling
Mads Pedersen's quest of winning points classification does not get any easier in the final week of the 2026 Tour de France, however the Dane is doing everything in his ability to complete his mission.
During stage 19, Pedersen once again jumped up the road alongside his teammates in search of points on an intermediate sprint in Le Périer, where he successfully claimed full 25 points. And since his main rival Jasper Philipsen did not add any points, the Dane now holds a 57-point lead.
At the start of the race, Lidl-Trek entered the breakaway with four riders. Next to Pedersen, they have also dispatched Quinn Simmons and Mathias Vacek as leadout and Derek Gee-West to control attacks. The plan worked out smoothly and Pedersen later paid his teammates' efforts with a short leadout to the foot of Alpe d'Huez.
"I'm proud of myself and proud of the whole team. We made a plan a bit optimistic, but in the end it worked out and we managed to get another 25 points. We gained back the big loss we had a few days ago and it's really nice," he said after the stage.
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With two stages to go, up to 120 points might be up for grabs for sprinters. Tomorrow's intermediate sprint after special category climb Col de la Croix de Fer will be Pedersen's goal, but it won't be easy to make the front group. Even for a rider of his climbing abilities.
"It would have been nice not to make the big mistake the other day, but we will try again tomorrow and maybe seal it there. If not, it’s gonna be a good fight in Paris, but it’s way more comfortable than it was some days ago."
Mads Pedersen leads points classification
Ideally, Pedersen would love to evade having to sprint for each point to Champs-Élysées against considerably faster Jasper Philipsen. The Dane has not had great success in mass sprints throughout this Tour and would prefer to enjoy the final stage without such worries.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- 18 broken bones. 78 crashes, among 30 rider per year is a lot. so for a rider over 15 seasons, they will break their bones 7-8 times and crash 38 times.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- i dont think he is ready ot win against the top 2 or the 2nd rung of evenepoel, del toro , Almeida. In the third week in the TDF he was very very defensive, no attacks. i think he was exhausted. right now he needs time not the brutal Giro or the intense TDF.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- Rota is an excellent rider to get in a break with because he always does his turnchapmanesque04-11-2026
- That 3000 extra that the Tour de France is built up in the flat stages
Rafionain-Glas04-11-2026 - maybe this is something else they can protest in the streets of France.mij04-11-2026
- his Roubaix win was amazing. not to take anything away from him - arguably one of MVDP's wins was at the expense of a WVA flat - but so many things need to line up to get one of these. He had a perfect race with fewer bike issues on an attritional course. And crazy strong as usual. Glad he got this done.mij04-11-2026
- Orts was a super smart signing with the new rules regarding cross and UCI pointsmij04-11-2026
- yeah... you're right...PogiSloFans04-11-2026
- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
- A mindset that reminds me of Tim Declerq. I loved watching that guy just pound away the kilometers, hours at the front, holding an entire breakaway in check on his own. Bjerg seems like a similar guy. Curling, the team sport.RidesHills04-11-2026
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