Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) wins once again at the Tour de la Provence(Image credit: Getty Images)
Alexander Konijn (Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur) attacks early on stage 2(Image credit: Getty Images)
Peloton races on a wet day on stage 2 from Forcalquier to Manosque (Image credit: Getty Images)
Kasper Saver (Philippe Wagner/Bazin) in the breakaway(Image credit: Getty Images)
Tim Declercq (Lidl - Trek) leads the peloton during the 8th Tour de la Provence 2024, Stage 2(Image credit: Getty Images)
Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) was the last man standing from the breakaway(Image credit: Getty Images)
Stage 2 winner Mads Pedersen (Lidl - Trek) celebrates at podium next to Thomas Voeckler (Image credit: Getty Images)
Mads Pedersen's (Lidl-Trek) peerless early-season form continued at the Tour de la Provence as the former world champion took a third stage win in three days to extend his GC lead.
The Dane was the strongest from a select lead group in the final spring, outpacing Axel Zingle (Cofidis) at the finish in Manosque after a group of 10 split from the rest on the final climb of the day, the Col de l'Aire del Masco, inside the final 30km.
Clément Champoussin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) led the remainder of the group home two seconds later, while Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) finished among the group to move into second and third on the general classification.
Costiou had earlier been out front alone as he chased down the remains of the day's breakaway – Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) was the last man standing from the move. However, Pedersen and his group – with the Dane putting in a good amount of work himself – who made their way across to the Frenchman.
Frigo survived to within sight of the finish line, the catch being made just 400 metres from the finish a cruel ending for the Italian's move. He'd end up 11th on the stage, 12 seconds behind Pedersen, who made the best of the poor conditions and once again showed he was the strongest man in the race in the sprint for the line.
"[My teammates] are incredible. Every day they have to dig deeper and deeper as the race gets harder," Pedersen said after his win. "So far they have been super impressive and I’m so proud of them. I’m happy to repay them with victories after all their hard work. Huge compliments to all of my teammates.
"Sometimes you have to take the chance and today I had to take the chance here. The boys were working so hard but it started to be tight to catch the leader because he was going – excuse my words – fucking strong in the front so it was not easy to deal with him at all, so I hoped a smaller group would be better. Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn’t, but today it did.
"I agree with Julien Bernard that it was one of the worst days on the bike. It was not an enjoyable day. We spent a lot of time around 700 metres elevation which isn’t nice when it’s raining like this and it’s two degrees. It was a tough day for everyone, and if you look at the guys crossing the finish line, they don’t look great."
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, she had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur. She writes and edits at Cyclingnews as well as running newsletter, social media, and how to watch campaigns.
