Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) has been forced to abandon the Tour de France ahead of stage 8, following a worsening of the injuries he sustained from a crash on stage 5 of the race.
“Unfortunately, Mads Pedersen will not be on the start line of Tour de France Stage 8 after being forced to abandon the race following the crash in the bunch sprint on Stage 5 into Saint Vulbas,” a team statement on Saturday morning stated.
Pedersen sustained injuries to his left shoulder and back as he crashed into the barriers late in the sprint finish of stage 5 - where Axel Zingle successfully bunny-hopped over the sprinter to avoid more serious injury. Initial signs were good, with X-rays revealing no fractures, but the team revealed that his condition has been a struggle.
“The Danish rider fought through stage 6 and 7, but the pain and swelling has not improved and the range of moment in his left shoulder has worsened, making it almost impossible to handle the bike,” the team said.
Pedersen sat in second place in the green jersey sprinter’s classification behind Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), having finished seventh on stage 1 of this year’s race and fourth on stage 3.
“While the initial x-rays showed no sign of a fracture, together with the Team, the decision was made that it was in Mads' best interest to stop racing in order to undergo more detailed examinations to assess his injuries further and give him the proper rest and recovery needed to focus on his remaining goals this summer and the final part of the season.”
Mads Pedersen entered the Tour as the main focus for the Lidl-Treak team, as the Danish sprinter was enjoying a strong season following his Gent-Wevelgem victory and a stage win at the Criterium du Dauphine. He would have been hoping to continue his streak of Tour de France stage victories - having taken a win in both 2022 and 2023.
Stage 6, finishing in Dijon, would have been a prime finish for the Dane, but in a chaotic finale - and no doubt suffering from his injuries - Pedersen found himself finishing in 15th position.
Olympics focus
Pedersen reminded a group of journalists about the crash that happened two days prior, ahead of stage 8, which is anticipated to be another sprint stage. “We all saw the crash and took the barrier with my left shoulder."
“Straight away, we took an x-ray, and it was not easy to find out if there was a fracture or not. Our doctor, he was saying it could maybe be a fracture we could only see in a week.”
Pedersen’s doctor felt he could keep riding as long as he could manage his pain. However, that became untenable on stage 7’s TT.
“From what they saw on my position in the TT yesterday they were not impressed,” Pedersen said.
“Management and the DS and the doctors all had a nice little chat to tell me that more important things are coming up than just trying to fight through the next few days for maybe doing a sprint or two.
“The Olympics is more important.”
“It’s hard to change the mindset in the middle of the tour, especially as I worked really hard to be the best version of myself here, but now the race is over, so I focus on the Olympics.”
While Pedersen’s focus has switched to the Olympic games, Lidl-Trek Lidl-Trek will likely continue to work to support 2023 polka-dot jersey winner Guilio Ciccone.
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