Mads Pedersen minimized his losses in the third stage of the Baloise Belgian Tour time trial, holding onto his race lead despite a close challenge from stage winner Yves Lampère (Quick Step-Alfa Vinyl), and his enthusiasm for the Tour de France His enthusiasm for the Tour de France was evident.

When the Tour de France begins in Copenhagen, the Dane has his sights set on taking the maillot jaune on his home turf and said after Friday's Belgian Tour stage that he was pleased with his performance.

"I'm pretty happy. It's not easy to win a time trial. He's strong and he's usually good in time trials. He's strong and he's really good in time trials.

Like Hour Record holder Ellen van Dijk, Pedersen has honed her time trial bike and skin suit and is targeting the 13km time trial at the Tour de France in Copenhagen. The Belgian Tour stage was his first real test, he said, except that he was wearing the race leader's skinsuit rather than the speedos developed by his team, Santini.

"I know my speedo is faster than the leader's," he said. It was good preparation for the Tour and I am very happy," Pedersen said. [Everything was new: the TT bike, the position, the equipment. It was my first real test with the new equipment. Unfortunately, we didn't use the new speedos, but other than that it went well and we found a really fast setup."

Before the Tour de France, Pedersen will ride the toughest stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour, around Durbuy in the Ardennes region. Not only that, but Belgium is in the middle of a heatwave with temperatures exceeding 30°C (86°F).

"Tomorrow will be a really tough day. I usually have a very hard time with the heat," Pedersen said. The first day was pretty warm, so I managed to get through it, but tomorrow it's going to be over 30 degrees. That could be the end of my time in the leader's jersey. To finish first, third, and second in this race is not bad.

"Of course I will do everything I can to stay in the leader's jersey and have a good race, but I know it will be tough. As long as I am wearing the leader's jersey, I have to respect the jersey and fight to keep it. I am not going to stop and go into the gruppetto because it is too hard or the temperature is too high. I'm going to fight all the way to the finish line and see what happens. It's going to be a tough race for everyone, and it's going to be pretty warm for the whole group. It's probably going to be a good day."

COVID-19 was detected at the Tour of Belgium, and at the Tour de Suisse all teams left the race due to positives. Adam Yates, leader of Ineos Grenadiers at the Tour de France, was among those who tested positive.

Pedersen said Trek-Segafredo had returned to all sanitary measures employed in the early days of the pandemic. He said, "Of course, with two weeks to go before the Tour, we are in the worst possible situation, with 30 to 40 riders infected with Covid out of Switzerland. It's really difficult. Of course, with two weeks to go until the Tour, it's a bad situation with 30 to 40 riders leaving Switzerland with covid. Within the team, we are going back to the old rules: wear masks, keep your distance, etc."