Mads Pedersen deja vue in Giro d'Italia
The man likes pink, loves pink, has a passion for pink!
Welcome back to the Mads Pedersen Show, live from Albania and the Giro d’Italia. The winner in stage one, the almost winner by a second of stage two and now victorious in stage three.
Pedersen is putting on a show and everyone else in the peloton is more audience than participant. We don’t know what other squads are up to when they discuss strategy in the bus. It’s probably something like, We’ll just follow Mads around. Maybe his bike cracks in two and we can win.
Mads likes the pink jersey. Like a lot. Like best color ever. Like I should wear pink every day.
Before the start today in Vlore, Mads made it clear that the battle plan was pink. “It’s a pity to lose the jersey by one second but, on the other hand, it’s still within reach and we want it back.”
Well, he and his Trek Lidl wasted no time adding to his favorite wardrobe. Everyone in the peloton knew what was coming. As commentator Adam Blythe said, “Most people should be afraid.”
In a photocopy of their stage one victory, the Trek squad drove the pace up the long 10k climb of Qafa e Llogarasë. The 7% gradients kicked out all the sprinters and Pedersen’s men set a hard tempo that discouraged attacks.
“This was the plan to put a good pace and control it for ourselves. Everyone on the team did super amazing,” said Pedersen. It was a dominant display of power and most squads seemed content to follow the wheels. Get out of the way, man wants his pink jersey.
They kept a small break at forty to fifty seconds all the way up the climb. Pello Bilbao, Lorenzo Fortunato and Gianmarco Garofoli gave it their best and it wasn’t enough. The escape was reeled in with 19 kilometers to go.
From that moment on, the race back into Vlore was a photocopy of Trek’s stage one triumph. Three Trek riders up front bossing the peloton while Mads took a breather and waited for the sprint.
Once again, his lead-out was perfect and in a straight line sprint up the middle of the road, he held off Corbin Strong (NZl) Israel-Premier Tech and Orluis Aular (Ven) Movistar.
“Back in pink, that’s exactly what we wanted, said Mads.” Yes, the Mads Pedersen Show rolls on.
Giro d’Italia GC standings
1. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek, in 7:42:10
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, +9s
3. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek, +14s
4. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +21s
5. Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +25s
6. Isaac Del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +26s
7. Max Poole (GBr) Picnic PostNL, +33s
8. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain-Victorious, +34s
9. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling Team, +36s
10. Guido Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, +40s