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WEVELGEM, Belgium (Velo) — Mads Pedersen shut down suggestions that his blistering spring rampage is driven by frustration over missing Lidl-Trek’s Tour de France selection in favor of teammate Jonathan Milan.
The Dane stampeded to a dominant solo win Sunday at Gent-Wevelgem but was quick to deny any talk of tension within the team bus over its grand tour strategy.
“I am completely fine with Johnny [Milan] being in the Tour, and I am happy for him,” Pedersen said. “I really don’t care. The team is paying me a salary and they’re telling me what to do, and I do that.”
Pedersen is flying high across the opening days of Flanders Week, capping Friday’s second place at E3 Saxo Classic with a record-tying third win at Gent-Wevelgem.
Pedersen brushed off reports that he’s somehow turning frustration from a perceived Tour snub into the pedals across the classics.
Instead, Pedersen spoke loud and clear that he’s on board with the team’s grand tour strategy.
“Johnny deserves to do the Tour and after two years in the Giro and winning the points jersey there, it’s his time to do the Tour,” Pedersen said.
“And it doesn’t mean it’s my last time doing the Tour de France. I will come back.”
‘I’m totally OK with it’
Pedersen is on fire so far in the spring classics. (Photo: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Pedersen is hitting peak form heading into the cobbled monuments, with Dwars door Vlaanderen, Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix all stacked up.
But once the dust settles on the spring classics, instead of leading Lidl-Trek into July, the Dane will pivot toward the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España.
The decision to send Milan to the Tour was revealed in January, and at the time, some suggested that Pedersen was upset that would see him miss the Tour for the first time since his debut in 2020.
Pedersen repeated that he’s fine with the decision to send the rising Italian sprinter to the Tour.
“I am totally OK with that. We are big team now and we have a lot of leaders on the team,” Pedersen said. “And with this parcours in the Tour, there are a lot of sprints, and with Johnny being one of the best sprinters in the world, it’s a no-brainer to bring him to the Tour.”
Mads Pedersen just joined a great list of 3-time Gent-Wevelgem winners. He’s made for this race and I hope he will break the record and win a fourth.#gw25 pic.twitter.com/1GFJYefpg1
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) March 30, 2025
Pedersen and Milan shared the podium and the champagne Sunday, underlining the camaraderie between the two Lidl-Trek leaders despite the change in plans.
Milan, who’s fresh off two strong Giro campaigns that included a points jersey win, is being backed to chase stage wins and potentially the green jersey with a sprint-friendly first half to the Tour.
With 10 stages in the Tour tailored for pure sprinters, Milan will have the pressure to shine. Pedersen, meanwhile, will hunt for victories and jersey ambitions in Italy and Spain.
And any whispers of team tension are wide of the mark, Pedersen repeated when asked again.
“It just wouldn’t make sense to send us both to the Tour. It makes more sense to send me to the Giro and Vuelta,” Pedersen said. “I am totally fine with that, and I hope Johnny is going to win a lot.”
Pedersen roars into Flanders, Roubaix
Pedersen soloed after a long attack to win for a record-tying third time. (Photo by DAVID PINTENS / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP)
The revised plan hasn’t thrown Pedersen off his game.
His early classics campaign couldn’t have gone better, and his eyes are now fixed on Flanders and Roubaix.
Pedersen is emerging as the most serious challenger to take on the powerhouse duo of Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar in the cobbled monuments.
“Definitely, I haven’t been better than now. Friday and today confirms it, so I am super happy,” he said.
“Those two guys are still on a different level. We saw it Friday with Mathieu, he just dropped me on the Kwaremont,” he said. “We also know Tadej is a pretty good bike rider, so he can do the same.
“Of course, it gives confidence for Sunday and we believe we can win, but it is not going to be easy at all.”