Pedersen takes third stage win in Giro d’Italia

MATERA, Italy: Mads Pedersen won a tight sprint to the line on Wednesday to collect his third stage win of this year´s Giro d´Italia and cement his overall lead.

The Danish Lidl-Trek rider was just the length of his bike ahead of Edoardo Zambanini and Tom Pidcock at the finish line of the fifth stage in the picturesque hill town of Matera. Of his three stage wins so far, Pedersen had to work hardest for this one after falling behind the pack led by his own teammate Mathias Vacek two kilometres from the finish line.

Dressed head to toe in the leader´s pink, Pedersen fought his way back into contention as the route wound its way through the town where scenes for the James Bond film “No Time to Die” were shot.

Then in the final metres, he spearheaded the trio of himself, Zambanini and Pidcock. “The last 20 kilometres were unbelievably hard, I was really suffering on that last climb,” Pedersen said. “I was behind but I knew it was still possible. But I really got tired chasing Mathias from behind. Thankfully I still had a little bit in the tank to win the sprint.”