There are moments in a Grand Tour when a sprinter, so often anchored to the flat run‑in finishes, surprises everyone with an eye-catching performance in the mountains. But was Mads Pedersen’s performance on stage seven of the Vuelta a España that surprising, given his exploits over the last few years?
With characteristic bluster and bravado, The Lidl-Trek rider forced his way into the day’s breakaway, which contained climbers like stage six winner Jay Vine and his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Juan Ayuso, who went onto to win the stage, Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) and Kevin Vermaerke (Team Picnic PostNL).
Even so, Pedersen refused to merely fade. Instead, he climbed with the breakaway, matching their rhythm as though it were another sprint. By doing so, he not only accrued precious points in the green jersey competition but reaffirmed a narrative so rare: a sprinter playing King of the Mountains — at least for a day. It was a performance similar to those that we have seen from the likes of Wout van Aert in recent years.
“You won’t have seen me in the front for the first hour. Only this one attack and I knew I had one job and that was to follow, follow, follow and then hopefully in the last two or three kilometres of the climb, I would have one chance to make it in the break. I made it today but it was not for free,” Pedersen spoke of the effort required to make the day's break.
Pedersen extended his lead in the green jersey competition (Image: ASO)
So far in this Vuelta stage wins have eluded both Pedersen and his Lidl-Trek squad, despite them being close on a number of occasions. But they have looked strong and in both Giulio Ciccone (currently fourth on overall classification and proving to be one of the top three climbers in the race) and Pedersen (leading the green jersey competition), success looks guaranteed to come their way.
That green jersey is competition is one of Pedersen’s main goals at the race and the reason he went into the breakaway on stage seven. However, the classification at the Vuelta is not the same as at the Tour de France, where it is almost guaranteed to go to a fast man. In the Spanish Grand Tour, it has often fallen on the shoulders of an overall contender. Spain’s geography — it is the second most mountainous country in Europe with an average altitude of 660 meters — the Vuelta’s route not having many flat or transitional stages and a number of its key ascents being summit finishes offering points for the winner, it requires a certain kind of sprinter to win the jersey. Pedersen is that kind of sprinter, and he is proving as much at the Vuelta.
“We have known my form is good since we arrived in Italy one week ago. It’s nice to get 20 points on a day like this and extend the lead a bit. If you win the sprint jersey in Madrid by 19 points, then it is a pretty well spent day,” explained Pedersen at the finish.
He now leads the competition by 22 points over Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech), but it could be that the likes of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), the stage-winning climbers, who worry him the most.
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But for now, he is out and ahead of the game. It’s a rare kind of brilliance, a sprinter playing breakaway tactician, climbing where few expect him to and doing enough to extend the green jersey leads. Pedersen remains without a stage triumph in this Vuelta, but it was one of the more striking performances of the week.
And that win could come on stage eight on a parcours that suits his attributes, but he will be up against not the climbers but the sprinters in the run-in to Zaragoza.
Cover image: Getty
