Sometimes wins in road cycling can come entirely off the cuff, improvised throughout 100s of kilometres of road and with almost 200 riders competing for the same small slice of glory, but on other days – such as stage 4 of the Tour de France on Tuesday – a victory can have been several months in the making.
Lidl-Trek were the beneficiaries of such meticulous planning in Foix, with Mads Pedersen crossing the line and roaring in celebration, just as head sports director Steven de Jongh had imagined happening when he did a recon of the 182-kilometre route months in advance.
The Dutchman had envisaged a day with several Lidl-Trek riders up the road, working to deliver their Danish star, and it was Czech and US national champions Mathias Vacek and Quinn Simmons who became the super domestiques alongside Pedersen after break formation.
What was an initial 34-rider move was completely dominated by the German team's riders, taking a 1-2 with Simmons as runner-up after just over four hours in brutal heat, having marked every move from their persistent opponents and still being able to lead out Pedersen. De Jongh's perfect plan for the road from Carcassonne to Foix had also been perfectly executed.
"First of all, Steven is an incredible workaholic, I would say. He's doing a lot of recons for these days, and it is really important for him to know what kind of stages we are starting," explained Pedersen in his winners' press conference.
"He did really well to drive 182km on small roads, to see every corner, every stretch of this stage, and when he calls me and says 'I believe this is going to be a breakaway day and we are going to put as many guys as possible in the break with you to win that stage', of course I have to look deeper into it as well.
"Together we made a plan, tried to go in the break with as many as possible and then we have to see how it goes. It's never easy to make a plan and then execute it to perfection, especially when bookmakers and everyone else are saying that you are the main guy who is going to win today. It's not as easy as it looks."
An elite Classics rider and Grand Tour stage hunter, but Pedersen is also a powerful sprinter, so when a rolling route with four categorised climbs – the last of which was 6.9km at 6.1% and came with under 40km to go – presents itself, it's hard to imagine someone like the Dane can even make it.
But Pedersen sits among the group of the most elite riders in cycling's current golden generation, a versatile weapon over all terrains, who can win on almost any route, barring a summit finish, that is thrown at him.
He hasn't had the best season, though, by his standards, with this his first win of 2026 after a crash in Valenciana stunted his start to the year, and he went without a Monument victory once again.
Pedersen was a constant threat throughout the Classics after he returned to racing, however, finishing in the top 10 of all Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix. Some had counted him out before the Tour but, as has been somewhat of a theme throughout his impressive career, he proved those doubters wrong.
"From Valenciana, of course, it was a tough comeback and we definitely pushed limits to come back to the Classics," said Pedersen. "Was it smart? I don't know, but if I had won a Monument, it would have been super nice and in the end, I still finished top 10 in all the Classics I did.
"Skipping the Belgium Tour to train a bit harder, do some more moto-pacing, and train more in the heat as well, some guys said it was stupid. I also heard a lot of places that I was done and I should just stop the season; I would not win anything. So it's nice to show them that they are definitely wrong."
'Anything less would have been a loss'
With De Jongh's planning and Pedersen, Vacek and Simmons' execution, the Dane was able to pay back and dedicate the win to the man who signed him at Lidl-Trek, Luca Guercilena, who has been replaced in his role as team boss by former Tour winner Andy Schleck.
"It's not a secret he was the guy who signed me in 2017. It's nice to end this journey like this," said Pedersen. "To give him a victory – I promised him that before the Tour. I know that was a big promise, but that's nice and it's a relief to give it to him."
Pedersen unsurprisingly gave significant praise to his two companions in the mass breakaway, saying how much harder it would have been to control on his own in the closing 30 kilometres, where no willing attacker could shake the two national champs.
"With Quinn and Vacek there, it was easier than being alone; it would have been really tough to control who would attack and be on top of every move because Movistar was there with two guys and also tried quite some times to attack," explained Pedersen.
"With these two engines, it was easier to control and they helped each other to close down everything. I think the other guys realised quite fast it would be tough for them to jump away."
In reality, any one of the three likely could have won, given their respective strengths, but Pedersen is a leader of the German squad and with his prowess in the sprint – demonstrated by the green jersey he will now wear – the Dane offered the most assured route to the win.
"When you have someone like Vacek, a leader like Mads in the team, with our horsepower combined on a good day, it’s hard to beat us. I’m just glad it worked out for Mads and he got his stage," said US champion Simmons at the finish line.
"When the three of us are on a good day, and the course suits us, it has to be the solution – anything less would have been a loss. It’s a good thing we have a lot of confidence in Mads, or else I’d be a bit nervous not trying on the climb, but I was quite sure once we got him over that he would win the stage, so that’s nice."
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