Pedersen comes of age at the Tour of Flanders
Of all the names being thrown around in the build-up to the Tour of Flanders, that of Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) would surely have featured in very few podium predictions. The young Dane, however, surpassed his and everyone else’s expectations and came of age on the cobbles and bergs of northern Belgium, finishing second on his Ronde debut.
Pedersen's potential was evident as early as 2013 when he won the junior Paris-Roubaix and went on to claim the silver medal in the World Championships road race. With Gent-Wevelgem, the Tour of Norway, and a stage of the Tour de l'Avenir all won during his time as an U23, Trek-Segafredo had to fight for his signature ahead of the 2017 season.
Pedersen went on to become national champion of Denmark as a neo-pro, along with providing confirmation of his abilities against the clock, most notably beating Jonathan Castroviejo to victory in the Tour du Poitou Charentes time trial.
After a solid start to his second season, the 22-year-old came into his second Classics campaign as a 'Plan C' for Trek behind Jasper Stuyven and John Degenkolb. He seized his chance at Flanders, however, by heading up the road in a long-range break and holding out for second place behind Niki Terpstra.
"It was a long day, super hard," Pedersen said in the media mixed zone. "Always when you do 260 kilometres it's a race where you have to survive, no matter how good you are. A result like this is unexpected, but it was a long and good hard day."
Pedersen went clear ahead of the Koppenberg with just over 50km remaining, and was joined by Dylan van Baarle (Team Sky) and Sebastian Langeveld (EF-Drapac), all acting as foils for their respective leaders. As Terpstra came roaring past on the Oude Kwaremont, Van Baarle and Langeveld, both top-five finishers here in the past, fell away, but Pedersen held firm over the Paterberg and dug in over the final 12 kilometres to take a first Monument podium.
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