With two wins in three days, Jonas Vingegaard and the Danish riders enjoyed their strongest Tour de France since Bjarne Riis' victory 25 years ago.

In Saint-Etienne, former world champion Mads Pedersen won from a breakaway group to claim his first Tour victory. The 26-year-old took the lead from a seven-man breakaway group that formed after a long battle early in the 192.6-km stage.

Pedersen was always likely to be the fastest from the group, but he attacked 12 km from the line and narrowed the field to three. He then outpaced Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Hugo Huell (Israel Premier Tech) to take the glory.

He became the third Danish stage winner in just four days at the Tour, giving the nation even more joy after the huge crowds at the Grande Parle in Denmark two weeks earlier.

"I already felt a lot of support in Denmark and here in France. It's really crazy to see the Danish people," Pedersen said at the post-race press conference at Stade Geoffroy Guichard.

"The Tour has, for example, four or five stages that are perfect for the Danish riders, placed close to each other. We have good riders in Denmark, with Jonas, Magnus (Korto), and sprint riders like me. To have three wins in such a short time is crazy."

In addition to Pedersen, Vingegaard, and Colt, seven other Danes are in the Tour, making the 10 Danish representatives the fourth largest in the peloton.

Last year's race had 11, and recent Danish successes include Vingegaard's podium last year, Caspar Asgreen's Tour de Flanders win in 2021, and Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Ile Lombardia in 2019 and 2020. Jacob Fuglsang's victories include.

Pedersen attributed the recent resurgence of Danish cycling to efforts at the club and junior levels and beyond. He thanked those who have helped him and other Danish stars to get to where they are today, adding that he hopes the developmental support will continue.

"I think all the hard work is paying off now," he said, "with the local clubs, the junior teams, the people who were doing it for free to help the talent, the national teams, the continental teams. [And now we have a big generation, and that generation is doing really well, and it's now showing on the big stage.

"I really want to thank everyone who has supported the riders since I was a kid," he said. [On a personal level, the win represents a breakthrough in the Tour, and Pedersen has been on the stage podium three times since his debut in 2020, including the second stage in Naivori this year.

"It's really big. I'm relieved. Especially at the start in Denmark, I didn't get the win that I really dreamed of. I'm really happy, not only for me, but for the whole team.

"I learned to race with a lot of confidence at home. I started this morning full of confidence and it definitely gave me a boost for the next day. So let's see how we do in the next two days."

Pedersen commented on the current state of Danish cycling, expressing relief at his stage win at the Tour and thanking teammate Quinn Simons for his race debut.

The American second-year pro joined Pedersen, eventual podium finishers Wright and Houle, and Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), Stefan Kühn (Groupama-FDJ), and Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) in the day's run.

Simmons also did the job for Pedersen on the Tour's longest day longwy last week. Pedersen had nothing but good things to say about his teammate, who attacked, forced the break, and worked for him afterwards.

"Quinn definitely played a big part today," Pedersen said. 'We were in a big breakaway group early on, but when you have 20 guys on the road, it's not easy to get everyone to turn.'

"But the moment we got the call [from the team], Quinn went straight away and attacked again. He lost a lot of time to the peloton, especially on the climbs. So we owe today's victory to him. [The attack with 10km to go. I knew that if it came down to a sprint race, I would be the fastest. But controlling five riders is never easy, and I wanted to escape with as few as possible. Luckily we split in half, so it was easier to control two riders than to control five."