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Arab News
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
Pedersen makes it 3 wins out of 5 at Giro d'Italia to extend his overall lead
MATERA, Italy: Overall leader Mads Pedersen made it three wins out of five at this year's Giro d'Italia as he won a bunch sprint at the end of the fifth stage on Wednesday. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport Pedersen just managed to edge out Edoardo Zambanini in a finish that was so close the Lidl-Trek rider had to ask a teammate: 'Did I win? Are you sure?' Tom Pidcock was third at the end of the 151-kilometer (94-mile) route from Ceglie Messapica to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Matera, which is renowned for its 'Sassi,' or ancient cave dwellings. The 29-year-old Pedersen also won two of the three opening stages in Albania to take the leader's pink jersey back to Italy. 'Now it's really incredible and to win in this jersey as well, it's insane and it's way more than I ever dreamt about,' Pedersen said. 'What a Giro we have and what a team I have around me.' With the bonus seconds Pedersen picked up, the Danish cyclist extended his lead over pre-race favorite Primoz Roglic to 17 seconds, with Mathias Vacek another seven seconds back. With a kilometer to go, Pedersen appeared too far back but he managed to get up to the front before a late corner and then got a great lead out from Vacek. Pedersen then launched his final sprint early and just barely held off Zambanini, who almost managed to beat him after coming up along the barriers. 'I used a lot of energy to move back up on Vacek's wheel,' Pedersen said. 'I had to spend energy to come back to at least fight for the win. Then luckily I had enough for the last sprint. So that was a really tough one.' Prior to this year's race, Pedersen had only won one stage in the Giro, two years ago in Naples — where Thursday's sixth stage also ends. 'Every day we try to win as as much as possible and we try again tomorrow,' he said. The stage is the longest leg of the three-week race and has two categorized climbs on the 227-kilometer route from Potenza. The Giro ends in Rome on June 1.
The Independent
14-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Giro d'Italia leader Mads Pedersen sprints to victory on stage five
Race leader Mads Pedersen claimed another victory after a photo finish on stage five of the Giro d'Italia in Matera. Lidl-Trek rider Pedersen took his third stage win of this year's race after a late charge over the closing kilometre to edge out Edoardo Zambanini, with Britain's Tom Pidcock given third place for Q36.5 Pro Cycling. The 151km stage, which started from Ceglie Messapica, had seen a three-man breakaway from Giosue Epis, Davide Bais and Lorenzo Milesi. The peloton, though, slowly pulled them back in, reducing the gap on Bais and Milesi down to around 35 seconds heading into the final 20km. Pedersen appeared to be struggling to hold the pace, but after being helped on by team-mate Mathias Vacek, the Dane suddenly found the needed sprint on the uphill finish to hit the front and kept his position to claim another stage victory. In the general classification standings, Danish rider Pedersen now has a 17-second lead over race favourite Primoz Roglic (Red Bull -Bora-Hansgrohe) with Vacek in third. Stage six runs from Potenza to Naples over a 227km route, the longest of the Giro 2025, which includes 2,500 metres of climbing.
The Guardian
14-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Giro d'Italia: Pedersen dominates another sprint finish to win stage five
Mads Pedersen continued his domination of sprint finishes at the Giro d'Italia by winning stage five on Wednesday, his third stage victory of this year's race which extended the Danish rider's overall lead. At the end of the 151km ride from Celglie Messapica to Matera, Pedersen appeared to struggle with the pace on the climb to the finish, but recovered before starting his dash to the line early, just managing to hold off the challengers. Italian Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious) almost caught the Lidl-Trek man on the line but had to settle for second place, ahead of Britain's Tom Pidcock (Q36.5). Pedersen's 10-second bonus for the win stretched his lead to 17 seconds over Slovenia's Primoz Roglic. Full report to follow …
CNA
14-05-2025
- Sport
- CNA
Giro leader Pedersen sprints to another stage victory
Mads Pedersen continued his domination of sprint finishes at the Giro d'Italia by winning stage five on Wednesday, his third stage victory of this year's race which extended the Danish rider's overall lead. At the end of the 151km ride from Celglie Messapica to Matera, Pedersen appeared to struggle with the pace on the climb to the finish, but recovered before starting his dash to the line early, just managing to hold off the challengers. Italian Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious) almost caught the Lidl-Trek man on the line but had to settle for second place, ahead of Britain's Tom Pidcock (Q36.5). Pedersen's 10-second bonus for the win stretched his lead to 17 seconds over Slovenia's Primoz Roglic (Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe).
The Independent
14-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Giro d'Italia Stage 5 preview: Uphill finish could wreak havoc for sprinters as Wout van Aert looks for first win
The 2025 Giro d'Italia 's sprinter-friendly first week continues with another outing for the fast men on stage five, this time a trim 151km run from Ceglie Messapica to Matera. Unlike Tuesday's pan-flat stage four, won by the surprise package of Casper van Uden, this one has a sting in the tail in the form of the short, steep category four Montescaglioso climb inside the final 30km. It's a leg-sapping ascent that may eliminate some of the pure sprinters and hand the advantage back to the likes of pink jersey Mads Pedersen, who won stages one and three and was fourth yesterday in Lecce, as well as Wout van Aert and Corbin Strong, who have both performed well on the punchier stages so far in this race. There's more steady climbing on the menu after that, with a false flat leading to the finish in the Unesco World Heritage city of Matera. The final 3km include a punishing ramp that hits 10% and the final kilometre is a steady drag uphill too, so while the stage is likely to still come down to a bunch sprints of sorts, it may be pretty heavily reduced. Like stage four's twisting and turning city centre approach into Lecce, there's another fairly technical finish which could lead to a hair-raising finale as both the GC riders and sprinters jostle to keep position and stay safe at high speeds. There are two left-hand corners approaching the flamme rouge including a tricky one at the 1.2km to go mark before a wide 300m-long finishing straight. And like on stage four the daily Red Bull kilometre - with six, four and two bonus seconds on offer for the first three riders over the line - is at the top of a short climb, 100km into proceedings at Bernalda. Expect a similar squabble between the main GC riders for those, if the day's breakaway doesn't get them first. Route map and profile Start time Stage five will start at around 12:35pm BST and should conclude by 4pm. Prediction This could be one for Wout van Aert, who came second on stage one and was in fine form on all terrain during the Spring Classics, only to come away without a win. His teammate Olav Kooij feels a likely candidate to be distanced on the late climbs, meaning Visma-Lease a Bike could be all-in for the Belgian come the finale. But it's the maglia rosa of Mads Pedersen who has reigned supreme on the trickier uphill sprint stages so far, and after coming fourth in stage four behind a trio of pure sprinters, he clearly has the form. Although, stage four did show that a sprint finish is anyone's game, so could this even be one for Tom Pidcock?
