Mads Pedersen believes he is in his best ever spring form and so is logically confident of his chances at Saturday’s Milan-San Remo.
The former world champion once dismissed Milan-San Remo as boring and only rode it for the first time in 2022. But he has learned to love the Italian Monument after finishing sixth in 2022 and 2023, both times just a few seconds away from victory. Now he senses victory could be within reach if his cards fall the right way.
Pedersen talks like he races: without holding back and with conviction. He is clearly confident about his chances in this year’s Milan-San Remo despite the presence of Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel and the risk their attacks on the Poggio will again blow the race apart.
“Everything just went well this year. My training went well, I had good early races, which gives you confidence and the team did well in the first part of the season too,” Pedersen said on Thursday afternoon, with Milan-San Remo suddenly just a recovery ride and the finish just 48 hours away.
“I wasn’t sick after Paris-Nice this year, so everything just went as planned. That doesn't happen often, that’s why I believe I’m the best I’ve ever been at this time of year.”
Pedersen will lead Lidl-Trek along with 2021 Milan-San Remo winner Jasper Stuyven, with Jonathan Milan giving the team a possible sprint option and Toms Skujiņš also impressing so far this season. Tim Declercq is out due to illness but Jacopo Mosca, Ryan Gibbons and Alex Kirsch will do the team work and positioning before the Cipressa and Poggio climbs in the final 30km.
Pedersen hopes to have a teammate with him in the final of the race, knowing that having someone to help the chase off the Poggio can make the difference between winning and losing.
“We have a really strong team and we believe we have the right recipe to win the race, to be with numbers after the Cipressa and the Poggio. We believe that’s the way we can win this race. We’ll try to copy what Jasper did a few years ago,” Pedersen said, confirming he will share team leadership with Stuyven.
“We believe that me and Jasper are stronger together than apart. A pair of kings is a pretty good set of cards if you play poker, and we believe this is the year we have to play our two kings and we hope that starts on Saturday.
Pedersen has no plan to try to anticipate the big attacks on the Poggio nor go with Pogačar and van der Poel if they again get away.
“Milan-San Remo is quite an easy race until the last hour, when it goes faster and faster. In that last hour, everything comes down to the legs,” he suggested, dismissive of the sprinters stealing the show this year.
"I don't see a big group coming in together. Hopefully it’ll be a smaller group, wth me and a teammate in it. That’s the dream scenario for me.
"I think Milan-San Remo suits me now more than it did a few years ago. But we’ve also seen it is hard to follow the attacks. It was incredible what Mathieu and Pogi did last year."
Pedersen was part of the initial split when Pogačar attacked midway up the Poggio in 2023 but was unable to then go with the four-rider attack he dragged clear.
“Last year I just blew my engine on the Poggio,” he admitted. “I can only try to be better and hope that is enough to follow them if they attack again. I just believe I’m good enough to win the race one day.”
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