Mads Pedersen has made a major step forward in his recovery from the collarbone and wrist fracture sustained in a crash at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, joining his Lidl-Trek teammates at a training camp in Mallorca.
The Dane can be seen in footage from the team's camp posted to Instagram by teammate Mathias Norsgaard. It's the first time he's been spotted outside on the bike since his crash three weeks ago.
Pedersen fractured his left wrist and right collarbone in a fall on the opening stage in Valencia, his first race day of the season. Since then, he has been in a race against time to try to salvage his spring.
He was set to target Milan-San Remo, the E3 Saxo Classic, and Gent-Wevelgem in March before heading to the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, but it remains to be seen what involvement he'll have during the Classics.
Pedersen was quick to return to the indoor trainer following surgery, getting back on the bike on February 9, just five days after his crash.
Now he's at training camp alongside teammates Søren Kragh Andersen, Mathias Norsgaard and Mathias Vacek, and his brother Martin, who races for Lidl-Trek Future Racing. His father, Claus, is also at the camp along with several other members of the team staff.
Speaking on Anders Mielke's Forhulslir podcast, Norsgaard said that doctors warned Pedersen he wouldn't be back on the road "within 12 weeks." The 28-year-old said he has been in "absolute shock" over the pace of Pedersen's recovery, and recounted a story from camp to illustrate his progress.
"A couple of days ago, I see him in the evening, and he's standing there. He has to squeeze an orange – I don't know if it's part of his training or what – and I just see he's writhing in pain and it hurts so damn much. Of course it does. It's less than two weeks since he crashed, right?" said Norsgaard.
"And then I'm out riding. We ride for four hours, and I have to do an extra hour. I'm riding a steep climb out back, then I turn around and I can see some Lidl-Trek rider with a support car. I'm thinking 'What the hell is that?'
"Then I get closer and I can just see the world champion stripes. And I'm telling you – he isn't riding 300 watts, he's riding at a pace I have trouble keeping up with. And I just thought, 'That's fucking unreal.'"
Norsgaard concluded that he's "not nervous" about Pedersen's recovery. "It's going to be fine," he said.
Pedersen's camp in Mallorca is set to last until Paris-Nice, which starts on March 8, though his teammates at the camp have appointments at Opening Weekend in the coming days.
A return for the stage race is out of the question, while Milan-San Remo (March 21) will also be a difficult target. However, Feltet reports that Pedersen had previously been expected to stay off the road until March 14.
A week ago, Pedersen said on his Lang Distance podcast that recovering in time for the cobbled Classics "already looks really difficult", though he appears to be well ahead of schedule. The prospect of him returning to the peloton by April looks far more positive than it did three weeks ago.
