Despite his 72-point lead, the Danish Lidl-Trek rider is not feeling at ease after his fourth place in the sprint in Viadana
The race for the cyclamen jersey of the Giro d'Italia 2025 is still open, at least according to Mads Pedersen. The Danish rider of Lidl-Trek, despite his three stage wins and a considerable advantage in the points classification, is keeping his feet on the ground after his fourth place in the sprint of the twelfth stage in Viadana.
With 177 points to his name, Pedersen leads the standings by 72 points over Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike), who won the day's sprint and brought his total to 105 points.
'It's not safe yet,' Pedersen said after arriving.
'There are still several sprinter stages with points up for grabs. Today Kooij earned 25-30 points. It won't be certain until we get to Rome.'The Lidl-Trek rider had an extraordinary first week at the Giro, winning the opening stage in Tirana together with the pink and cyclamen jerseys. After a fourth place in Lecce, he strung together two more successes in Matera and Naples.
The fast and chaotic ending of Viadana did not prove to be ideal for his characteristics:
'That's fine. This finish is not for me. It's not a question of fear, but it's all very fast, the riders are everywhere and we all know that the left-hand bend is basically the finish line, making it all very frenetic.'.The next opportunities for the sprinters will be stage 13 to Vicenza, stage 14 to Nova Gorica/Gorizia, a few chances on stage 18 and the final stage to Rome. Pedersen will have to defend his lead in the points classification, but his caution suggests the battle for the cyclamen jersey could still bring surprises.
