<\/p>\n
He explained that the issue had been building in recent days and had already impacted his performance at E3. \u201cI\u2019ve been dealing with a cold over the last few days, and it also affected me during E3 yesterday. After speaking with the team and the medical staff, the decision has been made for me to skip the race and focus on the coming week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Illness interrupts momentum after strong return<\/p>\n
That decision halts what had been an encouraging return to racing. Despite limited preparation following multiple fractures earlier in the year, Pedersen had already shown he could compete at the front, underlining his condition with a strong ride at Milano-Sanremo.<\/p>\n
In that context, In Flanders Fields represented one of the most favourable opportunities of the Spring for the former world champion. The race\u2019s combination of crosswinds, cobbled sectors and a reduced sprint finish has long suited Pedersen\u2019s profile, with the Dane a proven performer on this terrain.<\/p>\n
Instead, Lidl-Trek will now be without their leader in a race where positioning, team depth and experience often prove decisive.<\/p>\n
No concern over wrist as focus shifts to the week ahead<\/p>\n
Crucially, Pedersen was clear that his withdrawal is not linked to his earlier injuries. \u201cThis has nothing to do with my wrist. The recovery is going well, and it\u2019s actually better than we expected,\u201d he said, offering reassurance after concerns following his crash earlier in the season.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged some expected discomfort as he continues to rebuild strength, but dismissed any suggestion of a setback. \u201cThe muscles around the wrist and in my arm are still sore, which is normal after four or five weeks without proper movement, but there are no concerns there.\u201d<\/p>\n
With that, the decision becomes a preventative one, aimed at preserving his condition for the remainder of the Classics block rather than risking further disruption through illness. \u201cI wish my teammates the best of luck tomorrow, and hopefully Johnny can take the win with number one on his back,\u201d Pedersen added, throwing his support behind Lidl-Trek\u2019s options in his absence.<\/p>\n
For Pedersen, attention now turns quickly to the races ahead, where he will look to reset and salvage momentum in a Spring that continues to throw obstacles in his path.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" He explained that the issue had been building in recent days and had already impacted his performance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":571681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,279268,280663,49602,63568,85],"class_list":["post-571680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-e3-saxo-classic","tag-in-flanders-fields-from-middelkerke-to-wevelgem","tag-lidl-trek","tag-mads-pedersen","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}