Like many contenders for the 2023 Tour de Flanders, Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) knew he would not be able to compete directly with Tadej Pogachar or Mathieu Van der Pol for the win. His only option was to steal a march and give it his all.

The former world champion stood on the podium of his Flanders debut four years ago with high hopes.

"It's better to die at the end than just follow along and pop at the end," Pedersen told reporters at the finish in Oudenaarde.

"That's basically the way I wanted to race. It worked out well today."

Pedersen made the first move among the so-called "shadow contenders for the win," accelerating on the Wolvenberg with 114 km to go and pulling away from a strong group.

This attack failed, but another attack soon followed in Molenberg, and Pedersen jumped on it. The boat was filled with like-minded attackers, including Stefan Küng, Nielson Powles, and Kasper Asgreen.

"Most of us had the same game plan," Pedersen admitted.

"All the riders below the big three wanted to get ahead of us and get out early. It was about finding the right time and finding each other at the same time. I wasn't surprised at all."

Pedersen's predictions were not over yet.

The gap between Pogachar, van Aert, and van der Pol had grown to three minutes, and the race suddenly found itself in an awkward equilibrium.

Pogachar's onslaught on Koppenberg and Quaremont closed the gap quickly, but Pedersen was sneaky on the descent to Oude Kruisberg,

again attacking the breakaway group.

Pedersen climbed the cobbled climb, crossed the drag-heavy Hotondo, and descended to the base of the Kwaremont with 22km to go.

"I hadn't decided on a specific moment to attack, but I wanted to be ahead of everyone and anticipate early.

Pedersen took the lead, but not for long.

Asked what was going on in his head at that moment, Pedersen replied with typical humor.

"Good luck.

He was then passed by Van der Pol and Pedersen had to join a small chase group in Paterberg, but still managed to pass Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) for the last podium position.

He tried to win the Tour de Flanders, but missed out on victory.

"This means a lot. It's a monument and it's always nice to be on the podium," Pedersen said.

"I was able to turn fifth and sixth into a podium.