Mads Pedersen never set out to win the world title on Sunday. He set out to be useful to his teammates and invisible to his rivals, and by 33 kilometers to go the race had left him behind on paper.

Then the climbers overreached, and Pedersen reappeared. He crossed the line seventh, 14 seconds behind Brandon McNulty, who soloed to gold from 33 kilometers out and became the first American to win the men’s road world title in 33 years. Pedersen finished in a group with Tom Pidcock, Isaac del Toro and Matteo Jorgenson, one second behind silver medalist Michael Matthews and bronze medalist Mathieu van der Poel.

A decoy on the long climb

The plan, Pedersen told Domestique Cycling before the start, was to have him ride “a relatively anonymous bike race” while teammates Andreas Kron, Michael Valgren, Mikkel Honoré and Anthon Charmig had license to attack.

“I agree with Michael. On that route it is the only right thing for me to ride like that,” he told Domestique Cycling, referring to Valgren.

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Zurich’s lesson

Pedersen followed the plan closely for most of the 273-kilometer race, staying out of breakaways on the long ascent and riding his own tempo while others burned matches. With a lap to go he was back in the front group.

“I was pushing the limit all day, just below it, by half a percent,” he told reporters at the finish.

He explained the calculation behind riding that way.

“I had to. I couldn’t keep up with those breakaways. Especially on the long climb. There, I really had to stay in my own zone. That was the plan: take a gamble, stay at the limit, and then make a comeback.”

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The bet paid off because riders around him overreached. It was the same pattern, he said, that had unfolded at the previous year’s championships in Zurich.

“We knew from Zurich that people would push past their limits, and the same thing happened today. Because of that, I was still in the fight for the medals.”

By the finish there was nothing left.

“I had nothing left in the tank, but the result is more than we expected. Because a climb that long is beyond my limits. But I’m proud of my race, it was great.”

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McNulty succeeds two-time champion Tadej Pogačar, who did not race in Montreal. Pedersen, world champion in Harrogate in 2019, crossed the line one second behind Matthews and Van der Poel.

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