Mads Pedersen Triumphs Again at the Tour de Luxembourg

The Danish sensation crowns his teammates' brilliant work in Stage 2

Mads Pedersen’s incredible season continues with yet another victory, marking his 12th win of the year. In today’s second stage of the Tour de Luxembourg (Junglinster – Schifflange), Mads dominated the sprint, beating world champion Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Swiss rider Froidevaux (Tudor).

Pedersen’s triumphant finish is the lasting image of the day, but it was the tireless efforts of his teammates Simmons, Bernard, Ghebreigzabhier, and Kirsch on the final circuit, repeated three times, that stretched the peloton and set the stage perfectly for Mads.

The way we built up this win, how hard we worked to manage a final hectic, says a lot about how much we wanted to bring it home. I did mine, but of course the credit must be shared with the team. If we beat the strong and aggressive competition here in Luxembourg it is because we are a strong team, of course not because of a stroke of luck.

“The climb from 5km-4km to go was hard, with Uno-X doing a really hard attack to make peloton’s legs tired, ” said Mads. “I had Amanuel there to ride a hard tempo so we could close them again and then no one else wanted to attack. We did the downhill full gas and from then on it was surfing a bit here and there. Quinn and Alex did a perfect lead out in the end.

“Having a home rider like Alex that knows more or less it’s really important in days like this. But in general the whole season he’s been an important guy for me. In a final like this, it isn’t the same when he isn’t there” Mads added.

Lidl-Trek has now achieved their goal of winning a stage at the Tour de Luxembourg, bringing the men’s team’s victory tally to 42 this season. Unfortunately, their hopes for the General Classification took a blow when Mattias Skjelmose crashed after just 20km, sustaining deep wounds and forcing him to withdraw as a precaution.

“We lost Skjelmose today and that changed a lot our plan for the GC,” added Mads. “At least we can leave with a stage win, so that’s ok, but of course we wanted more. Tomorrow is a really hard day and it doesn’t suit me, but Quinn is doing really well and he’s in good shape, so we’ll try to set him up for something nice”.

SCHIFFLANGE, LUXEMBOURG - SEPTEMBER 19: (L-R) Esteban Chaves of Colombia and Team EF Education-Easypost and Quinn Simmons of The United States and Team Lidl-Trek compete during the 84th Tour de Luxembourg 2024 - Stage 2 a 155km stage from Junglinster to Schifflange / #UCIWT / on September 19, 2024 in Schifflange, Luxembourg. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

SCHIFFLANGE, LUXEMBOURG - SEPTEMBER 19: Quinn Simmons of The United States and Team Lidl-Trek competes during the 84th Tour de Luxembourg 2024 - Stage 2 a 155km stage from Junglinster to Schifflange / #UCIWT / on September 19, 2024 in Schifflange, Luxembourg. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

SCHIFFLANGE, LUXEMBOURG - SEPTEMBER 19: (L-R) Alex Kirsch of Luxembourg and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier of Eritrea and Team Lidl-Trek compete during the 84th Tour de Luxembourg 2024 - Stage 2 a 155km stage from Junglinster to Schifflange / #UCIWT / on September 19, 2024 in Schifflange, Luxembourg. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

SCHIFFLANGE, LUXEMBOURG - SEPTEMBER 19: Julien Bernard of France and Team Lidl-Trek leads the peloton during the 84th Tour de Luxembourg 2024 - Stage 2 a 155km stage from Junglinster to Schifflange / #UCIWT / on September 19, 2024 in Schifflange, Luxembourg. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

SCHIFFLANGE, LUXEMBOURG - SEPTEMBER 19: Mads Pedersen of Denmark and Team Lidl-Trek celebrates at finish line as stage winner during the 84th Tour de Luxembourg 2024 - Stage 2 a 155km stage from Junglinster to Schifflange / #UCIWT / on September 19, 2024 in Schifflange, Luxembourg. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

SCHIFFLANGE, LUXEMBOURG - SEPTEMBER 19: (L-R) Christophe Laporte of France and Team Visma | Lease A Bike -Blue Sprint Jersey, Mathieu Van Der Poel of The Netherlands and Team Alpecin-Deceuninck - Yellow leader jersey and Mads Pedersen of Denmark and Team Lidl-Trek sprint at finish line during the 84th Tour de Luxembourg 2024 - Stage 2 a 155km stage from Junglinster to Schifflange / #UCIWT / on September 19, 2024 in Schifflange, Luxembourg. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

SCHIFFLANGE, LUXEMBOURG - SEPTEMBER 19: Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier of Eritrea and Team Lidl-Trek leads the peloton during the 84th Tour de Luxembourg 2024 - Stage 2 a 155km stage from Junglinster to Schifflange / #UCIWT / on September 19, 2024 in Schifflange, Luxembourg. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

SCHIFFLANGE, LUXEMBOURG - SEPTEMBER 19: (L-R) Laurence Pithie of New Zealand and Team Groupama-FDJ and Mads Pedersen of Denmark and Team Lidl-Trek compete during the 84th Tour de Luxembourg 2024 - Stage 2 a 155km stage from Junglinster to Schifflange / #UCIWT / on September 19, 2024 in Schifflange, Luxembourg. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

SCHIFFLANGE, LUXEMBOURG - SEPTEMBER 19: Mads Pedersen of Denmark and Team Lidl-Trek celebrates at podium as stage winner during the 84th Tour de Luxembourg 2024 - Stage 2 a 155km stage from Junglinster to Schifflange / #UCIWT / on September 19, 2024 in Schifflange, Luxembourg. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)