Söderqvist’s measured pacing and aerodynamic efficiency were on full display. He overhauled Segaert’s benchmark time by five seconds, and while much attention had shifted to Pedersen — the last man on course and just fractions down at the intermediate split — the Dane ultimately faded in the final third, conceding 14 seconds to finish second.
“I wouldn’t have been surprised if Mads had beaten me at the split,” Söderqvist admitted. “He always goes out hard. The question is whether that approach holds. Sometimes it does — sometimes it breaks.”
Pedersen, who retained the race lead and further strengthened his GC position, had no illusions about where the day was won and lost. “I dropped it all between the split and the line,” he said. “Even if I’d paced it differently, I don’t think I could’ve gone faster. Jakob is insanely good at this. It’s a huge win and a huge result for him.”
The two Lidl–Trek riders — one a proven classics star, the other an emerging TT specialist — offered a textbook demonstration of dual ambition managed perfectly within a unified team strategy. Pedersen’s reaction was refreshingly blunt and devoid of ego: he simply got beaten by the better man on the day.
“There’s nothing I would’ve done differently,” he continued. “Jakob was just significantly faster, and unbelievably good at this kind of effort. Massive congrats to him. It’s just cool to be his teammate when he delivers like that.”