Tour of Denmark: Pedersen wins stage 2

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Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) beat Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka-NextHash) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) to win stage 2 of the PostNord Danmark Rundt, his home national tour, to Sønderborg, which will host the stage 3 finish of the 2022 Tour de France.

The former world champion timed his surge to the line perfectly, catching the sprinters and their leadouts by surprise with a strong acceleration. Groenewegen and Nizzolo bumped shoulders as the Dutchman tried to accelerate on the right of Pedersen’s slipstream, costing both riders any chance of success. 

Nizzolo finished second and Groenewegen was third. Groenewegen's time bonus and stage 1 victory meant he kept the race leader’s sky blue jersey. Nizzolo is now second overall at four seconds, with Pedersen third at six seconds. 

Mark Cavendish did not contest the sprint and finished 15th, with Deceuninck-QuickStep opting for a more aggressive strategy on the testing three finishing circuits. Remco Evenepoel drove the pace for the final two laps and Jannik Steimle went on to finish fifth. 

The long stage of 189.6km took the PostNord Danmark Rund peloton along the southern border of Denmark before reaching Sønderborg. The summer winds blowing from the North Sea sparked a split in the peloton as they chased an early attack but the race eventually came back together and a new break formed with 70km to go. 

A breakaway of Mads Kristensen (ColoQuick), Rasmus Quaade (Riwal) - who had earlier announced his retirement at the of 2021 season - Rasmus Wallin (Danimarca), Jakub Kaczmarek (HRE Mazowsze Serce Polski) and Emil Toudal (BHS – PL Beton Bornholm) opened a lead of 1:00 but the peloton kept them under control. 

Jumbo-Visma and Deceuninck-QuickStep rode attentively at the head of the peloton to stay safe on the often narrow roads and to ensure the stage ended in a sprint. 

The five attackers reached Sønderborg for the start of the three testing and technical 6.5km circuits, with Wallin leading over the line to take the lead in the climber’s classification, but they were swept up with 17km left to race. 

Jumbo-Visma initially tried to control the peloton for Groenewegen while Deceuninck-QuickStep appeared to change their strategy after seeing the difficulty of the circuit and especially the rising finish. 

Evenepoel rode at speed at the head of the peloton for long sections of the circuits, spitting out several Jumbo-Visma domestiques. However, Groenewegen and Nizzolo were able to stay protected up front, while Cavendish slipped to near the back of the reduced peloton. 

Despite the presence of Groenewegen and Nizzolo and other talented sprinters, the finish appeared designed for Pedersen’s power finish and he stepped up at the right moment to produce a winning effort as Groenewegen and Nizzolo clashed behind him. 

On Thursday for the 219.2km stage 3, the PostNord Danmark Rundt heads from Tønder to Vejle, with the short and steep hills of central Denmark and the Vejle finishing circuit likely to spark more aggressive racing. The race ends on Friday with a 10.8km time trial around the Frederiksberg suburb of Copenhagen.