Asked on television after his victory on stage one of the Giro d'Italia what the plan had been, Mads Pedersen was reasonably curt.
"Like we did, you can see it on TV," the Lidl-Trek rider explained, edging on patronising his interviewer. "That was the exact plan, to push really hard on the climbs, make it a small group, and then a sprint at the end."
To be fair, he had a point, you could clearly see on television - if you could afford it - what the plan had been. Lidl-Trek had hardly been coy about their ambition. The American squad were ever-present close to the front of the bunch all day, especially so on the two ascents of the Surrel climb on the outskirts of the Albanian capital of Tirana.
Sometimes, bike racing can be simple. Lidl-Trek powered away on the front of the peloton, ensured that all of the pure sprinters were dropped on the steep sections, but without going too hard and putting Pedersen into trouble, then delivered the Dane perfectly into the finale, and then the man himself held off Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) to take victory and the pink jersey in the process. Simple.
Obviously, every one of the 23 teams in the race came into the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia, the tantalising chance of pink on the line, with a plan and a hope of delivering it. But Lidl-Trek were the best at carrying out their plan, a plan that was so telegraphed that someone who had never watched a bike race before could have called it. 'The colourful men at the front are going to win, right?' Yes.
"When you win, the plan is going to perfection," Pedersen said in his winner's press conference. "We had a clear plan today, we wanted to make race hard, everything worked out, and after the team is working like that nice to give them the victory."
"I was not sure that I was able to win, it’s never given that you win a race, there are so many strong riders in this peloton," he continued. "Everyone here is in top shape, and if you're too confident when race starts, maybe it backfires. You have to treat it with respect, but believe in yourself and the team. You know in a sprint like this with Wout in the group, you have to treat that with respect, he can also win the race so it’s never a given before passing the finish line."
It wasn't a given, with the end close to a photo finish, but Pedersen managed to pull it off.
"We wanted to keep such high pace, that's why Cico [Giulio Ciccone] took over," he added. "When he goes that fast, if you want to attack from that it’s really chapeau. The GC guys don’t win the Giro today, I would be surprised if they wanted to attack, especially with the tempo Cico did, and then they didn’t because Cico was riding that fast."
It certainly helps when the team is all pulling in one direction, and Lidl-Trek, devoid of a target on overall victory, can put their weight behind one hopeful on each stage. It was Pedersen on the opening day, but it will be Ciccone on another stage, and you can be sure that they will all be behind that attempt.
"When you start with a win on stage one, can’t sit back and enjoy the next 20 days, we’re here to keep trying, to win as much as possible," Pedersen said. "I'm happy to start like that, it's absolutely amazing, but I'm hungry for more, I worked really hard to be in shape for this race so I won't sit up now, I'll keep fighting."
For a serial winner like Pedersen - Friday's was his 51st - this is intriguingly his first time in a leader's jersey at a Grand Tour, the first time a Dane will wear pink at the Giro, too.
"Winning in a Grand Tour is super special, especially with the jersey on top, it's even more special," he said. "It makes me proud."
"I wasn’t really a kid to watch bike races, I had too much energy, I was riding my bike or doing something else," he continued. "This is one of biggest races in the world, so to have the leader's jersey in a race like this is really amazing. It’s the cherry on the cake from stage win, and absolutely amazing to be able to say I have the pink jersey."
This was not down to chance though, this had been baked in to Pedersen's season a long time ago. "I prepared for this the whole winter," he said. The preparation, crossed with the perfectly carried out plan from his team, led to this crowning moment. It's unlikely to be the last time this race.
