Cyclingflash
Mads Pedersen Ends His Season Immediately Due to Illness

Mads Pedersen Ends His Season Immediately Due to Illness

Mads Pedersen will not race again this season. The 29-year-old Danish world-class rider from Lidl-Trek was supposed to compete in the unique combination of the European Time Trial Championships, Münsterland Giro, and European Road Championships within a span of five days this week. Due to illness, he now has to forgo this, his American team announced.

The Danish time trial champion was a disappointing fifteenth in the European Time Trial Championships on Wednesday, nearly two and a half minutes behind winner Remco Evenepoel. Now the reason is clear: Pedersen was struck by the onset of illness, leading him to end what has been a successful season. Besides his Danish time trial title, he also won the Tour of Denmark, Tour de la Provence, and a stage plus the points classification in Paris-Nice.

But above all, he managed to win stages in the Giro d'Italia (four) and the Vuelta a España (one). In both Grand Tours, Pedersen also took the points classification. In the spring, he came relatively close to achieving a long-cherished dream: winning a Monument. He finished second in the Tour of Flanders and third in Paris-Roubaix. He did win (again) Gent-Wevelgem and was second in the E3 Saxo Classic.