Defending champion Mads Pedersen, ill, will not start In Flanders Fields, loses chance to take record-breaking fourth win

Three-times In Flanders Fields winner Mads Pedersen will not be starting the race on Sunday.

The 31-year-old has a cold, Lidl-Trek announced on Saturday, so will rest up to try to get better in time for the Classics later this spring.

Pedersen was set to start Sunday's 241 kilometre Classic as one of the top favourites alongside E3 Saxo Classic winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike). In his absence, Pedersen's Lidl-Trek squad will now refocus their efforts on the best possible finish for Jonathan Milan, third last year in the race.

The setback comes barely a week after Pedersen finished an impressive fourth a week ago in Milan-San Remo behind winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). His top result in La Primavera culminated a remarkable comeback from a lengthy spell away from racing, due to breaking his collarbone and wrist in the opening stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.

However, he then finished a respectable but unremarkable ninth in E3 Saxo Classic, where he had taken a runner's up spot the previous year behind Van der Poel.

As such, Pedersen's illness is the latest setback in his challenging Spring Classics campaign, but he will likely refocus on the Tour of Flanders, where he finished second last year, and then Paris-Roubaix, where he was third.

One of seven riders with a hat-trick of three victories in the prestigious Belgian Classics, thanks to his triumphs in 2025, 2024 and 2020, Pedersen's absence means he will lose a chance to take a record-breaking fourth win for at least another year.

"The decision was taken not to race and keep the focus on the coming week, this has nothing to do with the [broken] wrist," Pedersen said in an Instagram post, "That's definitely moving forward, better than we expected.

"The muscles in and around the wrist is sore, of course, due to the lack of movement for four-five weeks, but that's completely normal.

"So no worries about the wrist, it's all due to sickness."

Pedersen said that he wished his teammates all the best for Sunday and he hoped that "Johnny can take the victory with number 1 on his back."

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