In fact, Kirsch, a man riding on home roads in Luxembourg, did much more than just help out in the finale for his team leader. "Every day he says, for example, that a road is very narrow so we have to be at the front. That is very important to know, but in general he has been very important to me over the whole season," Pedersen says glowingly of his teammate. "A finale like this is not the same without him."
As mentioned though, it wasn't a day of complete success for Lidl-Trek as their general classification hopeful,
Mattias Skjelmose crashed hard and ended up abandoning as a result. "The plan was to go for the GC with Skjelmose, but we lost him today," Pedersen reflects, choosing to remain optimistic about those Lidl-Trek riders still battling on. "At least we're leaving here with a stage win, so that's okay. Of course we want more. Tomorrow doesn't suit me very well, but it should suit Quinn. He's also in very good shape, so we'll try to bring him to something nice tomorrow."