Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen show their cards before Vuelta stage 2 showdown

Mads Pedersen, however, has no intention of making life easy for him.

The Dane expects the longest stage of this Vuelta to end in a reduced sprint and says Lidl-Trek will be among the teams prepared to control the race. With Van Aert also targeting the bonus seconds, Pedersen sees little chance of the breakaway being given much freedom.

“We just have to make sure we get to the finish and sprint,” Pedersen said before the start to TV2. “So it’s about pulling together with the other teams that also want that.”

Asked whether that meant going in the break was no longer part of the plan, Pedersen was unequivocal.

“There’s no reason to,” he said. “There’s Wout van Aert and many other teams that want to get to the finish and sprint for the bonus seconds. We simply don’t believe it will be a day for the breakaway.”

Pedersen added that with several teams sharing the same interests, Lidl-Trek may as well contribute to controlling the stage rather than spend energy on an attack with limited prospects.

At 200 kilometres and with around 3,000 metres of climbing, stage 2 is far from a straightforward day for the sprinters. Yet the climbing is spread across the route rather than concentrated in long, steep ascents, giving the more versatile fast men reason for optimism.

Van Aert believes it falls firmly within his range.

“It’s a stage that will definitely get into the legs, with a lot of up and down,” Van Aert told Sporza. “They’re not the steepest climbs, and 3,000 metres of elevation over 200 kilometres makes a difference. It should be a stage that is within my capabilities.”

The final five kilometres rise at roughly two percent and include several steeper sections, making positioning and timing particularly important.

“Of course we’ve studied it well,” Van Aert said. “It’s a tough final five kilometres where it will go very fast. In the end it will be a sprint for really strong riders, so I’m curious to see how it plays out.”

That description will also appeal to Pedersen.

The Lidl-Trek leader knows the finish well. He has already won in Manosque at the Tour de la Provence, although he played down the significance of that previous success. ‘I’ve learned that it suits me well, but you can’t compare the Provence with the Vuelta,’ he said.”

There is no fixed formula for how Pedersen plans to approach the uphill finish.

Asked whether he already knew where he wanted to launch his sprint, the Dane said the race situation would dictate everything.

“No, again, it’s all about race scenarios,” Pedersen said. “What does it look like, who is in front of you? There are so many things.”

“It’s not a 500 metre sprint you have to do. It’s not a 100 metre sprint either. It’s a decision that gets made in the moment.”

For Van Aert, meanwhile, the red jersey adds another tactical dimension. There are six bonus seconds available at the intermediate sprint and ten at the finish, meaning Pogačar’s nine second advantage could disappear without Van Aert needing to create a gap on the road.

Still, the Belgian insists the stage win remains the priority.

“There are a lot of seconds to gain today,” Van Aert said. “If we can go there together, we’ll definitely get involved in the sprint, but our first goal is to try to win the stage as a team. That’s our main focus.”

Whether Van Aert himself or young teammate Matthew Brennan will be Visma | Lease a Bike’s protected rider remains less clear.

“We’ll see,” Van Aert said. “I think we have a good, clear plan, so we’ll wait and see how the race develops.”