Mads Pedersen is part of the peloton at Milan-San Remo today, a minor miracle considering he broke his right collarbone and left wrist at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in early February.
The Dane's spring Classics season had been fully under threat, but he's back in the saddle at La Classicissima with all the cobbled Classics also ahead of him.
Last month, his Lidl-Trek teammates said Pedersen's pace of recovery was "unreal", and on Wednesday evening, he and his team made the decision to return to racing at Milan-San Remo, six weeks on from his opening day crash.
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The announcement was made on Thursday, and Pedersen is on the 298km road to San Remo this morning. Pedersen is, of course, tempering any expectations for his first race back, though he still said he hopes to feature in the final.
"I want to race. And the moment I got the goal from the team and the medical staff, of course, I wanted to come here. And with Johnny getting sick, it left an open spot. I have nothing to lose right now, so why not try and see how it goes?" Pedersen said in the mixed zone at the team presentation on Friday.
"It's many months now without proper racing, so I will, of course, feel it, but I have to get back into the rhythm if I want to get to the Classics.
"I'd love to give you a clear answer on what to expect, but I hope to be up there, and I hope I'm able to race in the final."
Pedersen has raced San Remo on four occasions, with his record to date reading: sixth, sixth, fourth, and seventh.
A fully fit Pedersen would be among the very top favourites alongside the likes of double winner Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar. He said he's somewhat surprised to be back, but he'll be happy with his recovery, regardless of today's outcome.
"A little bit [surprised]. I didn't expect this when I was on the floor six weeks ago, and the doctors told me 10 to 12 weeks before I would be back. So, this is a good surprise," he said.
"We had the plan of being back for something like Flanders, and now we are two weeks earlier. So this is, of course, super nice to be able to pin the numbers again."
Pedersen said that the rehabilitation process went "really, really well" - if that wasn't obvious from his speed of recovery. He's not in any pain on the bike right now and comes to Milan-San Remo after a long training camp in Mallorca.
"To be honest, the whole rehab went really, really well. I don't have any pain. And also the medical staff, like our team doctor, he was really harsh with all the movement in the wrist and so on," Pedersen said.
"I needed to be able to ride the bike safely before I was even allowed to go on the road. To be honest, I had a really good rehab with the training and so on for the wrist. The collarbone is an easy fix – It's a plate, and then you're good to go. So, honestly, it's not any pain."
Lidl-Trek may be missing sprinter Jonathan Milan at San Remo due to illness, but a strong squad will still accompany Pedersen. Danish duo Søren Kragh Andersen and Mathias Norsgaard are also in the team, as is the Italian trio Andrea Bagioli, Giulio Ciccone, and Matteo Sobrero. Rounding out the selection is talented Classics lieutenant Mathias Vacek.
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