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Mads scored a HUGE victory for Lidl-Trek, with the assistance of pitch-perfect teamwork
Mads Pedersen scored a large victory for the model new Lidl-Trek period on Saturday, sprinting from a lengthy strategy to win Stage 8 of the 2023 Tour de France. The win was not only a showcase of Pedersen’s power, however a powerful show of all-in teamwork on a day when seemingly the whole peloton was concentrating on the stage win.
“It means all the pieces to lastly have a stage win,” Pedersen mentioned. “It means all the pieces to me to win and particularly with the brand new sponsor on the jersey, it’s a pleasant strategy to begin this relationship.”
Lidl-Trek took over the entrance of the peloton with simply over 5 kilometers to the end. Danish champion Mattias Skjelmose led the tempo enhance with Tony Gallopin, Jasper Stuyven, Alex Kirsch and, in fact, Pedersen on his wheel. The groups of Alpecin-Deceuninck, Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-Fast Step couldn’t come excessive.
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Mads charging to the road. | Photograph: Kei Tsuji/SprintCyclingAgency©2023
Skjelmose gave strategy to Gallopin, who gave strategy to Kirsch, who gave strategy to Stuyven. Simply inside 500 meters to the end line in Limoges, Pedersen was the final man standing for Lidl-Trek, left in excellent place to start an early dash alongside the limitations on the proper aspect of the course. Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck, already a three-time stage winner at this 12 months’s Tour, couldn’t make up the hole to a hard-charging Pedersen, who beat the Belgian rider by roughly half a motorbike size.
“After we crossed the road, I knew I had received, however oh man, it was an extended dash and this uphill kick was actually painful,” Pedersen mentioned after the stage. “I used to be so near sitting down with 50 meters to go and I feel Jasper [Philipsen] needed to do a fairly good dash to come back from behind and make it that shut as properly.”
Different main contributors to the trouble included Juan Pedro Lopez and Giulio Ciccone, Lidl-Trek’s two ace climbers, who helped pull the workforce via the second-longest stage of this 12 months’s Tour at 201 kilometers, in addition to over three categorized climbs. The workforce has been gunning for a stage win all through the Tour so far, and it was clear they badly wished to win immediately.
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Mads letting that profitable feeling sink in | Photograph: Luca Bettini POOL/SprintCyclingAgency©2023
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Mads and Alex Kirsch hugging out a job properly executed | Photograph: Luca Bettini POOL/SprintCyclingAgency©2023
“The workforce did actually good immediately. All the best way from Juanpe and Cicco pulling, to this second on the finish,” Pedersen mentioned. “I do know this morning I mentioned I missed slightly little bit of velocity however this ultimate was extra about energy and that’s undoubtedly there and I confirmed that immediately. I’m simply completely satisfied I may give the boys the victory after some errors on my aspect the final couple of days. It’s good to be on the highest.”
The just about Classics-like parcours made for an interesting tactical battle within the peloton. Lidl-Trek was ready to win the stage in quite a lot of alternative ways, nevertheless. And there’s no query that Pedersen was the most effective rider for the job.
“We didn’t know this morning if it could be a breakaway or a dash, nevertheless it actually regarded like that sprinters’ groups didn’t need it to be a breakaway day so we stayed calm and the boys did an ideal lead-out immediately,” Pedersen mentioned. “Even with the lengthy dash, I nonetheless had the legs to complete it off. I attempted just a few occasions early within the stage, however I noticed that they wouldn’t allow us to go, so after that I simply held on and tried to avoid wasting vitality.”
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Mattias Skjelmose driving the ultimate leadout into Limoges | Photograph: Luca Bettini/SprintCyclingAgency©2023
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Mads celebrating his well-earned flowers. | Photograph: Luca Bettini/SprintCyclingAgency©2023
Ultimately, Pedersen scored his second Tour de France stage win after profitable Stage 13 in 2022, and has now received six Grand Tour levels in his profession. Most significantly, he spearheaded a win that echoes everything Lidl-Trek stands for, from the contribution of team-developed younger riders like Skjelmose, to the belief and cohesion represented by an ideal leadout. Oh, and he did it on biking’s largest stage.
“Robust one nevertheless it doesn’t matter when you win by two meters or one centimeter, that’s the fantastic thing about the Tour de France.”
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There was no stopping Mads on Saturday. | Photograph: Luca Bettini POOL/SprintCyclingAgency©2023
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Juanpe doing a little spectacular bidon work. | Photograph: Luca Bettini/SprintCyclingAgency©2023
In his phrases: Mads’ breakdown of the stage
“The workforce did actually good immediately. All the best way from Juanpe and Cicco pulling to this second on the finish, it was a extremely actually good day for us. I do know this morning I mentioned I missed slightly little bit of velocity however this ultimate was extra about energy and that’s undoubtedly there and I confirmed that immediately. I’m simply completely satisfied I may give the boys the victory after some errors on my aspect the final couple of days. It’s good to be on the highest.
“I’m not a standard sprinter. We noticed that on the earlier levels that I can’t compete with these guys within the excessive velocity sprints and if it’s not timed to perfection for me, in these form of sprints, I can’t do it. However, in a dash like this, the place it’s a bit extra about energy as an alternative of velocity I’ve a good probability and we noticed that immediately. Despite the fact that Jasper was coming with velocity from behind, he had a tough time passing me.
Extra scenes from Stage 8, courtesy Dash Biking.
“It was robust, the final 5 kilometers. Mattias was pulling for, I don’t understand how lengthy, nevertheless it was actually spectacular after which Tony took over. They had been driving actually sensible and utilizing the highway to perfection and, the lengths of the pulls they had been doing had been additionally actually spectacular immediately after which, with the final kick up right here, Jasper delivered me completely and I simply had the wheel of different guys who can do an extended dash. Jasper [Philipsen] got here fairly quick from behind however fortunately I had sufficient to carry on.
“It means all the pieces to lastly have a stage win right here now. It’s actually laborious for me to compete in these excessive velocity sprints and we’ve to do it to perfection to win them however right here, it’s greater than velocity, it’s additionally about energy and I do know I’ve that to win sprints. It’s additionally a bit simpler to time proper with the uphill right here so it means all the pieces to me to win and particularly with the brand new sponsor on the jersey, it’s a pleasant strategy to begin this relationship.”
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