While the green jersey at the Tour de France is a points classification and not one solely for the pure sprinters, it's hard to imagine the maillot vert being sealed on the queen stage, a brutal penultimate day with nigh on 5500 metres of elevation gain and with the intermediate sprint coming after the descent of the hors categoire Col de la Croix de Fer.
But that's exactly what Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) managed to do on Saturday, gaining enough points to mathematically confirm the jersey is his should he finish in Paris today, producing a monstrous effort over the climb to secure the 25 points on offer in Saint-Julien-Mont-Denis.
After a 14-rider break went up the road, Pedersen was initially dropped from the peloton on the toughest slopes of the 24km ascent, but settled into a rhythm and fought his way back to the bunch with gritted teeth.
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Knowing exactly how hard to ride, the Dane then set off in pursuit of bridging the gap before the descent, reducing most of the one-minute deficit in the final 3.5km from the summit, finally closing it on the downhill. Having somewhat miraculously got back in, Pedersen was able to roll over the intermediate sprint and confirm green.
"I don't, you know, I never find it so so much pleasure to ride in the mountains. So it was more a job I needed to get done," said Pedersen."I told my DS already yesterday: 'I will make it over in the first group and close it today'," he added, before addressing that it was a risk with a chuckle. "No shit. A bit cocky maybe, but with a lot of self-confidence, it makes it easier.
"Honestly, I got dropped quite early on the climb, but I also know the numbers, and that's the boring part now: I know the exact numbers I can do, so I settled in on my pace, and then I hoped that the race in the front would shape my way, which it did.
"I made it back to the group with the leaders, and they kept the front group quite close. I also knew that the last five kilometres of the climb would be flatter, so there was my advantage. I had to take the chance, at least to make a gap to the GC group because on the downhill, I knew I would be able to close. It paid off today. It was absolutely incredible."
Pedersen should join an elite group of riders to have won the points jersey at all three Grand Tours on Sunday evening, adding this to his two green jerseys from the Vuelta a España in 2022 and 2025 and maglia ciclamino from the Giro d'Italia last season.
The last rider to complete the feat was Mark Cavendish in the early 2010s, with Eddy Merckx, Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, Laurent Jalabert, and Alessandro Petacchi as the only other riders.
"I'm incredibly proud of it. It's not the first try, and finally I succeeded with it, and it was a really tough one to make it. But now it's on my shoulders, and I just have to finish tomorrow," said Pedersen, who ranked it as "quite high" on his list of achievements.
"What a week and what a Tour this has been, and one of my goals in my career is now accomplished. So it's absolutely incredible to close the book today and basically just have to finish the stage tomorrow."
What's been most incredible is how Pedersen has won green by using the intermediate sprints and getting into any and every breakaway he can to strengthen his hold on the jersey. He did win one stage, into Foix on day four, and while he's been off the pace in many of the bunch finishes, his massive haul from the intermediate points has landed him the jersey.
Pedersen will be one of the riders looking to win the final stage in Paris, which has been shortened to just 89km and will resemble a one-day Classic with laps up the stunning Montmartre circuit set to decide the day. If he has anything left after his efforts in this past week, don't be surprised to see the green jersey in full attack mode once more later today.
"Now I don't have to think about bad luck or punctures or whatever. Now it's all in for the win," said Pedersen, who is most looking forward to celebrating with his departing team manager Luca Guercilena and his teammates after winning green and the team's classification.
"Being on the podium with my teammates and with Luca – this is the last race with Luca as a manager, and I think this is the best gift he can get. Not only the green, but he can actually go on the podium with us in Paris, and that's going to be a special moment for all of us."
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