Pedersen took out the stage 13 honours in the Tour de France overnight (AEST) with a powerful attack in the final 10 kilometres of the stage, coming out on top from a seven-man breakaway which saw the Dane pull ahead of Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech) in the final 200 metres of the race.
It was the Trek-Segafredo rider's maiden stage win at the Grand Tour but perhaps, more notably, signalled Denmark's best start to a Tour in a quarter-century following Magnus Cort (EF Education–EasyPost) and Jonas Vingegaard's (Team Jumbo–Visma) victories in stages 10 and 11 respectively.
The dominance of the Danish riders at the Tour follows the highly successful Grand Depart and two subsequent stages held in the country, which were widely praised for the passion and volume of the crowds.
Stage winner Pederson pointed to the continued support of Danish fans in helping his compatriots cross the finish line in first place twice at this year's Tour.
"We felt a lot of support already in Denmark, and also here in France. It's really crazy to see all the Danish people," Pedersen said.
"The Tour puts, let's say, four or five stages that fit the Danish guys so good so close to each other. I think that's more luck than it was anything else, but it also shows that we have a good mix of riders in Denmark with Jonas, Magnus and a more sprinty guy like me. It's just crazy that we have three wins in such a short amount of time."
Pedersen claims that the increasing prevalence of cycling in Denmark has occurred as a result of its strong support at junior levels in the country, noting that Denmark are currently in the midst of a "big generation" with the three stage winners being accompanied by seven other Danes at the Tour, being the fourth-most represented nation in the peloton this year.
"I think all the hard work from local clubs, junior teams, people who were doing this for free to help talents, the national team, the continental teams – all this work is really paying off now," he said.
"For so many years, it was working so well in Denmark with all this support and now we have a big generation which is doing really well and it's showing on the biggest stage right now.
"It's a huge thanks to everyone who was supporting all the riders as kids and from there on let's just hope that people will keep supporting talents and people who are dreaming."
Pederson came agonisingly close to victory in stage two but finished third behind Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) in a thrilling bunch sprint to the line, making the victory on Friday (AEST) all the more rewarding.
"It's really big. It's a relief," he said.
"I was really working hard this season to be the best possible, especially with the start in Denmark, and I didn't have to win in Denmark as I really dreamed about but now the win is here. I'm so happy not only for me, but for the whole team so that's really, really nice.
"I learnt from home to have a lot of confidence," he joked, referring to racing on home roads earlier in the Tour.
"I also think I started this morning with a lot of confidence but definitely it gives a boost for the next days. So, we will see how we're going to do it the next two days."
The Tour de France continues tonight with Stage 14, a hilly stage with a brutally steep short climb into Mende to finish. Watch on the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker from 7:55pm (AEST) with the SBS and SBS On Demand broadcast starting from 8:30pm (AEST).
