WEVELGEM (BELGIUM) (ITALPRESS) – Mads Pedersen knows no fatigue. In fact, he seems almost drawn to it. And so, in one of the few classics considered hunting territory for sprinters, the 29-year-old Dane of Lidl-Trek invents one of his own, staying in a lonely breakaway for some 60 kilometers. It is Pedersen, therefore, who takes by force and by detachment the 87th edition of Ghent-Wevelgem, a cobbled classic of the Belgian calendar of 250 kilometers in total with departure from Ypres and arrival in Wevelgem with three passages on the Kemmelberg, the most complex ‘cote’ to digest. For the 2019 rainbow road gold medalist at Yorhshire, this is the third victory in the prestigious race after 2020 and last year, the fourth in this 2025 that has seen him win a stage and overall classification at the Tour de la Provence and a stage at Paris-Nice, and the 50th of his career.
“I didn’t expect to be able to do something like this,” explained happy Pedersen, who gave Lidl-Trek victory number 12 in 2025, “Winning here is something special. To go on a breakaway this far is a point of no return: I knew it would be tough in the finale but in the last meters I enjoyed the moment.”
The sprint of the beaten saw Belgian and European champion Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), second, overtake Italian and Pedersen’s teammate Jonathan Milan, third. Sixth place went to Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana Team). Italbici, which boasts seven successes at ‘Wevelgem,’ still remains dry: the last Italian to dominate was Luca Paolini in 2015. On Sunday, April 6, the second Monument classic of 2025, the Tour of Flanders, is on the calendar, where Dutchman Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), triumphant at Milan-San Remo and the E3 Saxo Bank Classic, and Slovenian outfielder Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates XRG), as reckless as ever at the last Strade Bianche, will return to the race. Pedersen, however, is already ready for another battle with the ‘gods’ of two wheels: “With them in the race it will be a race of another level.” The spectacle is assured.
– IPA Agency photo –
(ITALPRESS).
