‘Mathieu was in a different league today’ – Mads Pedersen satisfied with third at Paris-Roubaix

Third in the Vélodrome André-Pétrieux, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) can leave this year’s fast and arduous race both pleased with a career-best result and with the satisfaction, too, of being better placed than any other Roubaix rider who wasn’t clad in the faux denim of Alpecin-Deceuninck.

The Lidl-Trek racer crossed the line in Roubaix exactly three minutes after repeat winner Mathieu van der Poel, some 60km after he last saw the World Champion out on the road. The final metres of the race pitted him head-to-head against Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), himself a podium finisher last spring.