It was finally a day for the escapees in Four days at Dunkerque where a breakaway trio managed to keep the peloton behind on the 175 kilometer long third stage of the stage from Barlin to Saint Omer. CULT Energy Pro Cycling’s Mads Pedersen finished 11th and is now 7th overall in the French stage race.

In spite of a series of fierce attacks in the finale, the escapees entered the finish line together and in the sprint, Alexis Gougeard (AG2R) was the fastest and took the stage. Only 14 seconds later, the peloton thundered across the finish line with Pedersen in 8th position.

DS Michael Skelde says:

“It was a good stage for us. Mads was well-protected throughout the entire day and he was strong enough to finish among the best and is now in a very good position before tomorrow’s rather big challenge. We have to remember that Mads is only 19 and we can not expect him to finish among the best tomorrow but we are going to do what we can to limit the losses and see how far we can take it but he’s already shown that he is a very promising rider for the future."