Pedersen caused upset amongst 'The Big Three' at Ronde van Vlaanderen as he took the race by the scruff of the neck before sprinting to third place on the line.
The start of this year’s race was unrelenting and it was clear that there was a lot of nerves in the bunch with the early attacks being consistently chased down and crashes causing carnage.
With all that going on, thankfully the Team was able to escape relatively unscathed and eventually, after remaining attentive at the front of the peloton throughout the 100 kilometers of chaos alongside Mathias Vacek, Daan Hoole made it into a strong breakaway.
#RVV23 @daanhoole is looking strong in the breakaway, currently 5’09” ahead of the peloton. pic.twitter.com/aK6H46mOHW
— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) April 2, 2023
This was a perfect scenario for Trek-Segafredo and its team leader, Pedersen, who went on to attack off the front of the peloton early, making his move on the Wolvenberg with 110 kilometers still to go before joining Hoole at the front of the race.
The Danish rider continued to throw everything he had at the race and by the time he hit the foot of the Oude Kwaremont for the final time, he had attacked out of the leading group to go solo onto the iconic climb.
Behind him, the battle between ‘The Big Three’ had been brewing for some time and it was at this point of the race that Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) made his ultimately winning move with Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin – Deceuninck) the only other rider able to get in front of Pedersen.
As we have come to expect, Pedersen remained fully committed right to the end of the 273.4-kilometer race and he was the first to launch his sprint in the chasing group.
It was a close call on the line behind Pogačar and van der Poel…
What a solo victory from Tadej Pogacar! 🥵🏆 #RVVmen #RVV23 pic.twitter.com/V0NXYRacKe
— Ronde van Vlaanderen (@RondeVlaanderen) April 2, 2023
…but the photo finish eventually confirmed that Pedersen had just enough in his reserve tank to win the sprint for third place and secure a spot on the podium at Ronde van Vlaanderen for the first time since finishing second in 2018.
What going all-in looks like after the line!
Ronde van Vlaanderen in Mads’ own words…
“I can’t complain today, everything happened pretty much as I wanted. I didn’t know exactly when I wanted to go but I knew I wanted to go early. I said before the race I wanted to anticipate and be in front of ‘The Big Three’ when they were going and we succeeded with the plan quite well but they still came pretty fast. I believed I could win today and even though in the end, Pogačar and van der Poel were stronger, I am really happy. I am always racing to win but a podium result here is still really good.”
“When Pogi went passed me on the Kwaremont, I knew I couldn’t follow him and it would have been stupid to try to do it. He’s also fighting to win the Tour de France so, of course, he is faster than me on climbs and that’s not a pity. I think trying to follow him would have been a mistake as if I popped then I would have been out of the group I was in, so I wanted to keep my own tempo.
“Then, when Mathieu passed me on the top I really wanted to stay on his wheel but it was not possible but I am really satisfied with today. I knew I had to do something. We talk about those three and they are by far the strongest but if you try to anticipate and get in front of them then the results can still happen and I think I took my chance today and I ended with a good result.
“I think I did a little bit too long of a sprint but I managed to keep Wout behind on the finish line. I think everyone was pretty empty at that point, but it was still a nice sprint. It’s never easy to beat him, he’s a fast sprinter but I did enough and I am happy I could beat him for the third place.”
