The 29-year-old Dane showed the Soudal Quick-Step colors on the roads of Bedfordshire.
Thursday brought another opportunity for the sprinters, but this time at the end of one of the week’s shortest stages, just 122.8 kilometers from Milton Keynes to Ampthill, over a fairly flat course. It was a fast day in the saddle, in part to the four-man breakaway featuring Soudal Quick-Step’s Casper Pedersen, who produced an impressive effort at the front of the race.
A fourth-place finisher at E3 Harelbeke this season, Casper helped the quartet – who travelled at more than 45km/h – pull out a two-minute advantage over the peloton, and despite their lead being gradually eroded by the sprinters’ teams, he and his companions believed in their chances until the very last moment. With 15 kilometers to go, their buffer was still around 40 seconds, but a couple of minutes later the four were overhauled and the stage culminated in a bunch sprint won by Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Despite this, Casper was content with his effort and had no regrets at the finish after spending more than 100 kilometers in the lead: “It was the plan to go in the break, and once I got there, we rode full gas, because we felt there was a possibility of doing something nice. I felt good and I’m happy with the fact I gave it a try. It was just two and a half hours of racing today, but a proper effort. We’ll see what we can do in the remaining stages, but one thing is certain: the motivation and desire to leave our mark on the race are there.”
Photo credit: ©SWpix
