Three out of three for Lidl-Trek in Germany as Mads Pedersen puts on a powerful display of strength to win Stage 2.
Lidl-Trek once again took control of the race at Lidl Deutschland Tour today, coming in with the goal of keeping the wins coming and the Team did not disappoint.
It was Mads Pedersen’s turn to step onto the top step of the podium and move into the race leader’s jersey after an aggressive finale over the local laps around Schwäbisch Gmünd.
Mads Pedersen:
“You know today was more my day than Jonny’s. He carried the last two days, and again, with Lidl as the sponsor here, we want to win as much as possible, and we succeeded again today.
The heat is not crazy, but it’s a surprise for a lot of people. In the end of the races, if you didn’t cool down during the day, it’s a big surprise and you’re dying slowly, but you never know when it comes. I think it was quite ideal to be in the first mix all the time.
Apparently yes, [it was suited to me], but we know it’s quite nice with a climb like this in the last few kilometers, not too hard, not too easy, and with the last 200-300 meters dragging up. But still, it was a tough sprint, and I was not sure I was winning. I saw Johannesen coming on the left and I thought ‘now he’s coming’ but he hit the wall also.
It was the goal before we came [to win every stage], and it’s still the goal.
I’m focused on the GC now. Before the race we wanted to win the GC, but that would come with stage wins. Now with a lead, I’ll try to keep it. It will be super hard tomorrow. We have some horsepower on the team, and with that we can do a lot of damage control. Even if the climbs might be too hard, we can come back if we keep it under control.”
Stage
- Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) 4h25’50’’
- Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +00’’
- Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) +00’
GC
- Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) 8h45’11’’
- Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +12’’
- Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) +21’’
