As Mads wins, fellow Dane Mattias Skjelmose profits from the crosswinds to move into 3rd overall
Mads Pedersen emerged victorious after a day of brutal spring weather in what will go down as a vintage Paris-Nice stage. With 59 kilometers to go, the peloton was split by the team of the yellow jersey, Visma Lease-a-Bike, with Mads and Mattias Skjelmose quickly joining the departing train. The front group numbered 16 riders, but with several strong engines in the group and almost every rider standing to gain from the split, it was never seen again by the peloton. A savvy Pedersen positioned himself ahead of the sprint before powering to the line to take his 3rd win, and first WorldTour win, of the season. With two stages remaining, Pedersen takes the lead in the points competition, and Skjelmose moves onto the GC podium.
Pedersen: “After such a tough day, it’s really nice to take the win. It would have been a pity to finish second or third. For Skjelmose, it’s also great to move up in the GC. Nobody likes racing in 5 or 6 degrees, it was pure suffering. Right now, I can enjoy the victory, but it was a really hard day. In the end, I had to do a long sprint, and Tarling is so strong, you can never count him out. But whether you win by one centimeter or five, a win is a win. This was the ideal scenario: going to the finish with a small group, without the best sprinters like Tim Merlier.
“I remember a day in 2019, end of September, that was a bit worse than this but the outcome was the same, it was a victory. It was pretty tough conditions today. Between five and eight degrees and rain all day, it makes it pretty hard to be a cyclist and especially when it’s 100+ kilometers but, in the end, it’s a good day when you are winning so we have double success if we say it like that with Skjelmose taking time back in GC so a really successful day for us.
“You know, you see it in the breakaway, the guys from Norway and from Denmark, we are the ones without rain jackets as so on. Of course, it helps that we are used to training in this weather in the winter but I also think there is a mental part to it, where you just don’t care. It’s the same for everyone and if you keep your mindset clean, and clear on racing, rather than feeling bad for yourself then it helps you a lot.
“I don’t think I was unlucky in the beginning, I think I just was not good enough to win there and you know, on our team, it’s pretty clear that for the last two days I am here to Mattias. Paris-Nice is also for me the last bit of fine-tuning before the Classics so it doesn’t hurt me to help him but I am also here to win so, it is nice to tick that box and say, “okay I leave Paris-Nice with a victory.”
Skjelmose: “I think we had a meeting point at kilometer 135 because we knew that at that point, the top of the cat. 3 climb, that it would be a tricky downhill and crosswinds when we came down from that. The guys positioned me super well and Mads sacrificed his spot a little bit so that I could go in the front and be sure to be there and, yeah, then as I said, we went down the tricky downhill and through the crosswinds and the split happened.
“First, when I was in the first group [knew it was a good situation for the Team] and secondly, it was like on minute, Mads said that he was coming back with Ineos so I thought ‘okay, there is no reason to wait anymore’. I saw Visma and Ineos were super committed from the start so I knew it would be a super good situation.
“I am happy [with the GC situation]. The goal was to podium and I still think, second place is within reach. Jorgensen is going to be difficult but we won’t give up anything. Tomorrow has been shortened, it’s a bit of a shame, but still everything is to play and I am looking forward to both days this weekend.
“I guess in some way it [the awful weather conditions] also hardens you so, if this was the worst we have to deal with this week then I am happy. I think I can manage the rest now.”
Stage 6
- Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) 4h25’37’’
- Joshua Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) +00’’
- Samuel Watson (Ineos Grenadiers) +00’’
GC
- Matteo Jorgenson (Visma – Lease a Bike) 20h52’57’’
- Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe) +40’’
- Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +59’’
