Mads Pedersen to make surprise Milano-Sanremo appearance against Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel after quick recovery from fractures

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Mads Pederson (Lidl-Trek) has made a surprisingly quick recovery from his wrist and collarbone fractures to be cleared to race in this weekend's Milano-Sanremo. The 30-year-old suffered the injuries at the start of February in the first stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. A 12-week recovery was expected, but the Danish rider "has progressed more quickly than anticipated”, his team said.

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Video credit: TNT Sports

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) will make a surprise appearance at Milano-Sanremo this Saturday after recovering from wrist and collarbone fractures.

The Danish rider suffered the injuries when he crashed in his first race of the year at Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana at the start of February.

The former world champion had not been expected to feature at Milano-Sanremo, which is live on TNT Sports and discovery+, but his team revealed on Thursday that his ”rehabilitation has progressed more quickly than anticipated”.

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”Honestly, the plan was not to race Sanremo,” Pedersen said in a statement on the Lidl-Trek website.

”But we have done some really good training, and we wanted to see specific numbers to be able to have a chance to make a good result in this race as well.

”After a few hard trainings this week, we believe that it is a good decision to race again, pin the numbers on, and get comfortable in a race again. "

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Video credit: TNT Sports

Pedersen added: ”Of course, the doctors and my coach also had a say in how and when I could make it back. Dr Jens [Hinder] did a lot of examinations, and he is 100% confident that I am able to race again already - so it’s pretty nice to be back already.

”It’s really nice to be able to be at this point and start here in Italy. It’s a good starting point ahead of the Belgian Classics too.”

Pedersn will go up against Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) at Milano-Sanremo.

Lidl-Trek will be particularly relieved to have Pedersen involved in the Italian Monument after Jonathan Milan withdrew because of illness.

The 30-year-old will be racing in his fifth Milano-Sanremo, looking to add to his four top-10 finishes over the last four years.

He finished seventh in last year’s race, with his best effort coming in 2024, as he finished fourth.

Pedersen underwent surgery to fix his fractures and was back training with the team in Mallorca within three weeks, but his recovery period was still expected to be around 12 weeks.

Head of rider welfare Dr Jens Hinder added: ”Mads’ recovery has progressed as well as we could have hoped - if not better.

”With fractures, the central challenge is always timing: mobilise too early, and you risk the repair.

”We took a carefully managed approach, introducing gentle wrist loading early… always within strict parameters to ensure there was no risk to the fracture site.

”Mads’ attitude throughout made a real difference; his positive mindset was a genuine factor in both the healing and rehabilitation process. All medical checks confirm he is ready to race.”

Watch Milano-Sanremo live on TNT Sports and discovery+ on Saturday, March 21

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