'Sometimes you have to believe in crazy stuff' - Mads Pedersen gambles on European Championships

Mads Pedersen arrived in Slovenia late on Saturday night after racing in Germany at the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro, but the Dane downplayed the impact of his travel plans on his chances at the European Championships.

“10.15 I was in the hotel already, so it was not too bad. I think we had longer travel days on the Vuelta than I had yesterday,” Pedersen told CyclingPro.net before the start in Ljubljana.

Along with favourite Remco Evenepoel (Belgium), Pedersen is one of the few frontline contenders to double up at both the World and European Championships. After placing sixth in Montreal last Sunday, Pedersen’s week was spent in recovery mode.

“I feel quite good, I had a good week of not riding and riding and we managed to do well with the sleeping,” he said. “So yeah, I feel quite good and recovered.”

Pedersen lines up on a Danish team that also includes Kasper Asgreen, Mikkel Honoré, Mikkel Bjerg and Anthon Charmig. 

The European Championships course features five laps over the steep ascent of Mozjanca, which has an average gradient of 10.4%, and Pedersen acknowledged that the climb is at the limit of his range.

“I know it’s a really tough, tough climb. It’s 2km and pretty steep, so I know it’s really on the limit,” Pedersen said. “But we said the same about Worlds, and then I was fighting for the medals in the end.

“Sometimes you have to believe in the crazy stuff, and with this team we believe that we can do a good job on this course. And honestly, I don’t care who of us it is, I just want that at least someone from Denmark has a medal when we come home from here. We will see if I’m able to follow or I go more in the supporting rule. We will find out during the day.”

In the Montreal Worlds, Pedersen looked to be out of running at various points, but he stormed back into contention on the final lap, eventually taking sixth place, 14 seconds down on champion Brandon McNulty.

The shorter distance of the European Championships course, however, means that Pedersen cannot lean on his powers of endurance to the same extent here. When the big moves go on the climb of Mozjanca, he will have to find a way to follow.

“I think today I have to go over the limit to follow,” Pedersen said. “I can’t do it the same [as last Sunday], because it's 75km shorter here than it was in Worlds, and the distance helped me in Canada. Here it’s ‘only’ 200km, so I definitely need a different approach for today.

“We’ll see how many times I can make it over and then hopefully we can come over the climb in a good position and then make it back on the downhill and be there for medals.”