Mads Pedersen solos to victory in Grand Prix d'Isbergues a day after Theuns' win in Primus Classic
One day after Edward Theuns soloed to the win in the Primus Classic, Mads Pedersen put on a display of his strength and soloed to victory for Trek-Segafredo for the second straight day. And just like Theuns, it was Pedersen’s first win of the season.
Using the same tactics that worked brilliantly in the last races for Trek-Segafredo, Pedersen was given the green light to be aggressive and play for victory, leaving John Degenkolb in reserve for the sprint.
“Today we tried to do something else than a sprint, and we had John here, so he was still focused on the sprint. I was allowed to try something different, and the plan was actually for me to try later in the final, but we had a hard climb and crosswind just before the local lap, and I decided to go already there when the peloton slowed down again,” explained Pedersen.
“I made it across to the breakaway, and from then I worked well with them. Just after the finish line with two laps to go, I went hard through some corners – it was raining since the last 60kms and very slippery in the city. Then I just went all out and hoped for the best.”
Mads Pedersen during the Deutschland Tour Stage 3.
It's nice to be back on the podium and nice for the team to take two victories in a row.
Pedersen held a 30-second advantage over the last lap that the reduced bunch behind could not eat into, the rain and wet roads playing into the young Dane’s advantage. With one kilometer to go, Pedersen had over 40 seconds in hand and knew the win was his and could savor his victory in the final meters.
Mads Pedersen during the Tour of Poland 2019, Stage 6.
It was very hard from kilometer six until two to go as there was a lot of headwind at that point. I managed to stay in front, and that was super nice and super nice to be there with the whole team again after the awesome job of the team yesterday with Eddie's win, and now to do it again today. It has been a really good weekend, and we can't be more happy than this! Next up is Worlds.
The chasing bunch numbering only 28 contested the minor positions. Making the victory even sweeter, John Degenkolb sprinted to second ahead of Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) to place two Trek-Segafredo teammates on the podium, and Alex Kirsch made it three in the top 10 with an eighth place.
John Degenkolb at the Tour of Poland
It was a chaotic day with crosswind and rain but in the end, we had a double win by the team: a perfect solo by Mads and I won the sprint for second. Next stop: Yorkshire!
- John Degenkolb
