Mads Pedersen got a little too excited at last year's Tour of Flanders, attacking with 100km still to race and then stubbornly hanging out front for 30km, tiring himself out in the process. He “didn’t race my smartest race ever” he admitted afterwards, labelling his own tactics as “stupid”. He promised he wouldn’t repeat the move, knowing that his instinctive decision only worked in the favour of the eventual winner Mathieu van der Poel. It appears, however, that Pedersen hasn’t actually learned his lessons.
Last weekend, he attacked with 56km to go at Gent-Wevelgem – and this time it paid off, the Dane winning the Belgian Classic for the third time in his career. But for all of his 50 victories on his palmarès, including the 2019 World Championships, Pedersen still hasn’t won a Monument. And he’s getting quite desperate. With Van der Poel defending his Flanders title and Tadej Pogačar looking to win the race for the second time, Pedersen, despite being in self-assessed career-best shape, is hinting that he may have to revert back to audacious tactics if he’s going to win Flanders this Sunday.
“I can’t wait to see what the others do,” he said of Van der Poel and Pogačar. “We saw at E3 [Saxo Classic] that Mathieu dropped me on the Kwaremont. I know they’re better climbers than me and it would not be ideal to follow them because maybe they drop me. For sure I have to do something. I can’t tell you right know what it’s going to be though because first of all it wouldn’t make sense to tell the press what my plans are, and the second thing is it all depends on how the racing is going and how we are as a team, if I have someone in front, all these kind of stuff.”
Going longer, emulating his strategy of 12 months ago but crucially doing it better, is not off the cards. “Racing is opening up earlier and earlier and even the big favourites go earlier and earlier," he continued. "I can’t open up the race with 140km to go, that would make no sense, but we will see. It depends on the race situation, how everything is going, and I will try to follow my instinct.”
To win De Ronde, Pedersen will need a committed support cast, and Lidl-Trek certainly have that, counting powerhouses like Jasper Stuyven, Mathias Vacek and Tim Declercq. Pogačar and Van der Poel can do it alone, but Pedersen cannot. “To beat these guys we have to be there with numbers because I can’t make the difference by myself,” the 29-year-old said. “I need a full team and we need to be a unit to beat these riders. We showed it last year at Gent-Wevelgem that we can work together and be on top of everything to be these two guys. If it comes down to mano-a-mano on the climbs, we’re maybe a few steps behind, but if we survive that and are in the front as a unit, we can race differently and use each other to win the race as a team.”
Collective strength rather than relying on individual strength will be the plan of Visma-Lease a Bike, too, a team desperately needing to salvage their Classics season and atone for that harrowing defeat at Dwars door Vlaanderen. “I am pretty sure if the sports directors would tell you the truth of what our tactics are going to be before the race that Visma’s tactics would be pretty close,” Pedersen said. “But it’s a completely different race [to Dwars] so you can't compare too much. Mathieu and Tadej will also be there on Sunday which changes the whole race rhythm… but of course it’s good to know that Visma are back as a unit and they’re ready for Flanders.”
Pedersen, too, is certainly primed. In 17 race days this season he’s won four times, and his lowest finish in the four Classics he’s ridden has been seventh. Getting that monkey off his back and finally winning one of the five most prestigious one-day races remains his overarching ambition. “You guys ask me what’s my dream race to win and I can only pick one, the one I like the most [Roubaix],” he said. “But a Monument is a Monument. It’s important and I like to race in Flanders and it’s special for guys like me who love to ride cobblestones. If I end up winning Flanders but never Roubaix, I will be more than happy.” Attempt number eight takes place this Sunday.
