Trek Lidl dominates opening Giro stage
Mads Pedersen holds off Van Aert to take the win and pink jersey
Every rider in the Trek Lidl team apparently marked stage one of this Giro for a victory. They had a plan and executed it to perfection.
They dominated the entire final climb of the Surrel, Giulio Ciccone driving with Pedersen tucked behind. It was seven kilometers of blistering speed on gradients running from 4% to 8%. Trek blew all the sprinters out the back. Bye bye Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and fast twitch guys like Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) disappearing from view.
Still, for all the work that Trek Lidl did, there remained a sizable group of riders coming to the finish in Tirana, Albania. The pressure was on Petersen to pay off the work of his teammates. No win, no pink, no bubbly at dinner.
The one man capable of ruining what had been a perfect day for Trek, was Team Visma| Lease A Bike’s Wout van Aert. He was in fourth position coming into the final 500 meters. After a Spring campaign blighted by disappoint and injury, Van Aert had a perfect opportunity to turn his season around. This time there was no Tadej Pogacar or Mathieu van Der Poel to wreck his chances. All he had to do was nail the sprint.
However, Pedersen received an excellent lead-put by Mathias Vacek. Meanwhile Van Aert was boxed in on the right side of the barriers. He had the legs but not the opening. By the time he found some space, it was too late. After a string of fourth places this year, he’s once again the nearly man, a half wheel from glory and redemption.
"This is my favourite stage now," Pedersen said after his win. "To win the stage and go in the pink jersey it’s absolutely amazing, especially after teamwork like this. It’s incredible that the team worked that hard and I can pay back with a win."
Where was everyone else? Somewhere in the back, hidden from the cameras and, in several cases, down on the tarmac. Sadly, several riders including an on-form Mikel Landa had a nasty crash. He lay on his right side on the sidewalk, writhing in pain. His Giro is no doubt over.
Dropped and losing over a minute on GC, Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) and Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) rolled home with a dent in their hopes for overall victory.
Pedersen becomes the first Dane to wear the pink jersey. Just this last week he detailed some of his unorthodox training methods. For example, he does an extreme form of heat training that involves riding a trainer in full Winter gear.
“It’s terrible — but terribly effective,” said Pedersen. Judging from the results on stage one of the Giro d’Italia, you’d have to agree. It’s very, very effective.