Unstoppable Mads Pedersen wins BEMER Cyclassics

Lidl-Trek were forced to work for their win in the closing stages after a three-man move containing Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe), Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) and Yves Lampaert (Soudal Quick-Step) escaped in the final 15km and it looked like the trio would decide the win with 2km to go.

Key blocking from Politt’s Bora squad kept the gap between the break and the peloton at around 10 seconds but with just under 1km to go Pedersen sprung the pack and reeled in the German and his fellow escapees with 250m to go. With that momentum Pedersen kicked again, rising out of the saddle with just enough time to celebrate before a rampaging Van Poppel hit the line in second place.

“The three guys still had a gap with 1km to go. I was just trying to catch them in the sprint and I was just going all-out,” Pedersen said after his win was confirmed.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen from behind, and Danny was coming pretty fast but luckily it was enough to take the victory.”

Pedersen has enjoyed a consistently impressive season with stage wins in Paris-Nice, the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. He has been competitive in almost every major one-day on his calendar, with third in the Tour of Flanders and fourth in the recent road race at the UCI World Championships. Coupled with his recent exploits in Denmark, he has shown no signs of slowing down just yet.

“I wouldn't say that I’m unbeatable but the shape is good. We planned to have good form from the Tour into the World Championships and that’s what we’re carrying on. We’ll see how long it lasts. We try and get the most out of it until I pop.”

Pedersen produces heroics to usurp the breakaway

The early action had been marked by a break that was reeled in with around 60km to go

On the second of three ascents on the Wasberb climb with 24km to go Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) stretched the field with around 20 riders going clear. After a general regrouping UAE Team Emirates hit the front with Tim Wellens lifting the pace just before the final ascent of the climb. On the lower slopes, Brandon McNulty took charge, with a number of pure sprinters immediately distanced by the American’s pace.

A group of four, including Diego Ulissi, Marc Hirschi (both UAE Team Emirates), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) and Corbin Strong (Israel Premier-Tech) formed after the climb with just over 15km remaining but a huge effort from Bora-Hansgrohe reeled in the break before Politt, McNulty jumped clear with Lampaert in hot pursuit.

With 10km to go the trio had just 16 seconds of a gap as Lidl-Trek led the chase and it looked as though the sprinters would decide the outcome of the race when the gap was quickly halved but some clever blocking from Bora-Hansgrohe on the front of the bunch allowed the break to push their lead back out to ten seconds with 1,200m remaining.

That wasn’t enough and with just under 1km to go Pedersen struck for home, first latching onto the coattails of the break before opening a final sprint to the line and taking the win.

"I was really on the limit on the last climb and I was going backwards. The guys did a great job to keep pulling me from one group to another as long as they could, to put me in a good position in view of the final,” Pedersen said.

“I just went and hoped for the best like the TT yesterday. At the finish, Danny van Poppel came really fast with much more speed, so five metres after the finish line he was already two bike lengths ahead of me. I was 99% sure I had won, so I celebrated like a win. On TV it looks good, right? I started to feel the legs, it’s been a long season now and until now it’s been hard and I can feel it. Luckily there’s still some gas in the tank and now we go onto Germany and take it from there."