Mads Pedersen won the elite men's world championship road race in Yorkshire on Sunday, his first Danish victory.

With the victory, Danish newspapers featured Pedersen's red and white national kit on the cover of their Monday morning editions, brightening a dark and murky picture of a rainy and windy world championship road race.

Politiken said Pedersen "made Danish sporting history alongside the 1992 national soccer team (when the men's team won the European Championships) and 2018 tennis star Caroline Wozniacki (when she won the Australian Open)."

Meanwhile, Berlingske Tidende quoted Danish Cycling Union (DCU) President Henrik Jess Jensen as calling the win "the best day in the history of the Union."

Back in Harrogate, Pedersen's national teammate Michal Valgren (who finished sixth and started as the team leader with Jakob Fuglsang) told reporters that he was not as surprised as many other observers.

"He's got big talent," he said. 'One of Mads' strengths is that he has great ambition. One of Mads' strengths is that he has great ambition. As soon as he entered the finish circuit, he went on the attack. When he's strong, no one can hold him back."

Pedersen was in a decisive five-man group with pre-race favorites Mathieu van der Pol of the Netherlands, Swiss Stefan Kung, and Italian duo Matteo Trentin and Gianni Moscon.

"I saw him with two Italians, so I thought he might be at a disadvantage on that card, but I don't know if Moscon was dropped or what," said Valgren, as first Van der Pol dropped out of contention with just over 10km to go, and then Moscon with around 5km to go. Van der Pol dropped out of contention after 10km, and Moscon was unable to keep up with the pace with about 5km to go.

Then Pedersen passed Trentin with paper-thin speed, and Kuhn took the bronze medal.

"I saw him win on the screen and thought, 'Damn, I can't believe it. Mads is really fast."

"It was so cold, it was the worst day on the bike. I'm not going to lie, the early part of the race sucked.

"To be honest, I had a really bad day in the beginning, I rode about 120 km and stopped to take a shit before I got to the track, but on the way back I got a flat tire.

"'Whatever the new UCI rules are, can you come back at a faster pace?'

"But you know, I came back halfway through the first lap.

Asked if he thought the terrible conditions played into the Nordic countries' hands and contributed to his and Pedersen's high finishes, Valgren replied: 'I've lived in Denmark for three years and I don't like bad weather. But I think we have always been good in bad weather.