Lidl-Trek lose grip on stage win as Pedersen defends decision over Skjelmose

Lidl-Trek entered the decisive phase of the stage to Ussel with options both at the front of the race and inside the peloton.

Quinn Simmons and Derek Gee were part of the breakaway, while Mads Pedersen remained in contention behind. With several possible routes to victory, the team looked well placed to control how the race unfolded.

Instead, the opportunity gradually disappeared.

Simmons and Gee were unable to stay with the strongest riders in the breakaway, while the chase from the peloton came too late. Mathieu van der Poel eventually completed the decisive move and claimed the stage victory.

For Mattias Skjelmose, the result was difficult to accept.

“We were in a really good position at the front, and Mads was also having a very good day,” Skjelmose told TV2 after the finish.

“It was a difficult day for making decisions. It is disappointing that we missed the stage win.”

Much of Lidl-Trek’s strategy depended on whether Pedersen could survive the stage’s hardest climbs. Once he made it over the category two ascent, the team began to reduce the amount of work being done by its riders in the breakaway.

That created a delicate situation. Lidl-Trek wanted to keep the pressure on at the front, but it also had to decide how many riders it was prepared to sacrifice in the peloton.

Pedersen later explained that using Skjelmose and Juan Ayuso in the chase could have damaged the team’s ambitions in the general classification.

“It is difficult,” Pedersen told TV 2. “We would also have had to use Skjel and Ayuso completely, so it was a hard balance to find. It was simply an extremely strong breakaway.”

Skjelmose had offered to contribute to the chase, but Pedersen asked him not to take turns at the front.

The Danish sprinter did not believe that one additional rider would have changed the outcome by that stage of the race.

“Honestly, I do not think Skjel [Skjelmose] could have made the difference when it was already that late,” Pedersen explained. “I just had to hope for the best and try to produce a long sprint at the end.”

Lidl-Trek’s original plan had also included Simmons as a potential winner from the breakaway. That option disappeared when the American informed the team that he was not feeling strong enough to compete for the stage.

“Normally, Quinn would be a very good option on a stage like this,” Skjelmose said. “But at some point he told us that he did not have his best legs, so we had to change the plan.”

Pedersen eventually crossed the line in sixth place after narrowly losing the peloton sprint to Filippo Ganna.

He still collected useful points in the green jersey competition, but that offered only limited consolation on a day when Lidl-Trek had entered the finale with several opportunities and finished without the result it wanted.