Dane still optimistic despite numerous crashes and mechanicals
Footon-Servetto’s Martin Pedersen hasn’t had the best Giro d’Italia so far. After finishing second to last in the stage 1 time trial in Amsterdam, things have gone from bad to worse for the Dane as he’s spent more time on the tarmac than most. With many riders enjoying the much-improved weather in today’s stage from Avellino to Bitonto, Pedersen again found himself brought down in a crash. As he told feltet.dk, he’s getting a little tired of the bad luck he’s been having.
“Already in Holland I was down a few times, like so many other riders” he said. “Then I’ve been dogged by material problems and punctures at times when otherwise I would have been getting ready to compete at the finishes.”
In today’s stage he was once again brought down when he says a Cervélo TestTeam rider ran into him on a corner. “We had to go around a corner,” he explained, “and we were all coming to a stop; he chose to run straight into me.
“Needless to say I was pretty pissed off at the time,” he added. Fortunately it was nothing serious, but I’ve lost the skin on both elbows and on both hips, and although it’s not too bad, it is pretty annoying.”
Pedersen managed to get back on his bike and chased to rejoin the peloton. “I would have liked to have told the rider that he was a fool, but I was unfortunately unable to find the right Cervélo rider.”
Although the Dane managed get to the end of the stage without coming off again, he was destined to miss out on yet another finish. “Unfortunately there was yet another crash, just as we made contact,” he said, “so the whole thing was split again and so we decided to just quietly roll to the finish.”
He eventually finished 169th, 7’41” behind stage winner Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions).
“But it irks me a lot,” said the Dane. “I had damn good legs today and would have gone well at the finish, but the crashes put a stop to it.”
Despite his apparent bad luck so far in the Giro d’Italia, Pedersen is still optimistic that he can play a part in the race before it finishes. “During the first week I tried to get into breaks many times but haven’t had the luck for it to come off yet,” he said. Tomorrow’s stage looks exciting though, so I’m happy that my break will come. It’s a long stage where a breakaway could easily reach the finish so I will certainly try.”
Like most of the peloton, Pedersen was pleased to see the sun shining on today’s stage after the atrocious weather in the race so far. He is resigned to things getting worse again though. “It was damn nice,” he said of today’s weather. “I clearly go better in good weather, but unfortunately they’ve already promised rain again tomorrow.”