Mads Pedersen explains Vuelta sacrifice after putting Skjelmose first

Mads Pedersen has explained why he was unable to contest the finish on stage 5 of the Vuelta a España, revealing that helping Mattias Skjelmose had always taken priority over preserving his own chances.

Pedersen was dropped on the final climb while several other fast men remained in the peloton, ending any possibility of the former world champion fighting for the stage victory.

But his absence from the finale was not simply the result of a bad day.

Lidl-Trek had spent part of the stage alert to the possibility of crosswinds, with Pedersen playing a key role in keeping Skjelmose at the front and out of trouble. Although the wind never became strong enough to split the race, the positioning battle still came at a cost.

“As I said before the stage, the priority was to help Skjelmose,” Pedersen told TV 2.

“We never really got proper crosswinds, but the race was ridden as if there were crosswinds, and that still costs a lot of energy when you’re doing that work. There isn’t much left when you have to ride like that and then try to stay with the group afterwards.”

Pedersen said he had gone into the stage knowing that his role could leave him with little chance of sprinting for the win.

“I knew it was going to be a hard day, and I don’t think I had particularly high hopes of making it to the finish and sprinting because I knew I would have to do so much work for Mattias today.”

For Skjelmose, that work did exactly what it was supposed to do.

“Mads just kept me out of trouble,” the Dane told TV 2 after the finish. “I simply sat on his wheel and felt completely comfortable. It gave me a lot of peace of mind.”

Skjelmose also praised the rest of the team, singling out Mathias Norsgaard for helping to keep him well positioned during a nervous stage.

Lidl-Trek sports director Kim Andersen confirmed that Pedersen and Skjelmose had hoped to use the wind to their advantage earlier in the day.

“They wanted to give it a try, but there wasn’t enough wind. Unfortunately, it wasn’t strong enough along the coast,” Andersen said to TV 2.

Instead, Pedersen's most important contribution came in preparing Skjelmose for the final climb.

“All we saw was that Mads did a good job of getting Skjelmose into a good position for the climb.”

The sight of Skjelmose surrounded by teammates was particularly notable after Andersen had criticised Lidl-Trek's climbing support earlier in the race, when their leader was left isolated on the first major mountain stage.

Skjelmose reached the finish safely in the peloton and did not concede any time, leaving Pedersen satisfied despite sacrificing his own opportunity.

“All in all, it’s fine,” Pedersen said. “He didn’t lose any time, so everything went as it should.”