Mads Pedersen and Lidl-Trek dominant on the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia in Albania.
The Danish powerhouse took victory ahead of Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) and Orluis Aular (Movistar Team) after a powerful sprint to the line in Tirana.
The Lidl-Trek men had a plan going into their first day of Grand Tour racing in 2025 and that was deliver Pedersen to victory and they certainly delivered.
The Team remained calm and in control as they led peloton on the second time up the Surrel climb, but unlike the first ascent where they kept a steady pace, Lidl-Trek took the tempo up a notch and, as a result, riders were being dropped of the back of bunch.
Giulio Ciccone led the reduced peloton over the top of the climb and onto a fast and furious descent towards the finish line, before Mathias Vacek led the way around the final bend with Pedersen in second wheel and from that position, the great Dane was able to unleash his trademark powerful long sprint and seal victory.
Mads’ post-race reaction 🎤
Definitely out of the 21 stages, this is my favourite now. To win the stage and wear the pink jersey is amazing especially after the team worked like this. It’s really incredible how hard the team worked and I’m happy I could win. What you saw on TV was our exact plan. We planned to push really hard on the climb and then make it a small group for the finish.
It’s a tough challenge when everyone has their eyes on you and the Team have to deliver 100 percent and they did that today. It was amazing to see everyone fighting and doing their maximum effort so it’s definitely a win for the team. We put a good tempo on the climb the first time and second time they went balls out. Cicco is here with GC hopes and then he’s still making a difference like this so it’s pure class from my teammates today and it’s amazing to pay them back with the pink jersey so yeah, super amazing. It's also the first leader's jersey I have worn in a Grand Tour so it’s super nice.
It’s always a tough one with Wout [van Aert] in the group, you never know and you can’t underestimate him because he’s such a strong guy. It’s not a given win when he’s in the group and today, he really challenged me but, in the end, a victory is a victory and 1cm, 2cm, it doesn’t matter. It’s nice to start this well. Every team is happy if they get a stage win in a Grand Tour and to start already with one is great and we’ll keep on fighting now for more wins.
Since Paris- Nice, I’ve been on the TT bike twice as I was more focused on the Classics but it’s a short TT so it could be possible to pull one out of the hat. I know it’ll be super tough but I’ll do my best to keep the jersey tomorrow. I don’t know the course at all so now I’ll have to go and study it a bit but it’s short enough that I’ll have time to see it tomorrow morning.
