It’s not easy to reach cycling’s upper echelons, and it’s even harder to stay there. But for the past four years at least, Mads Pedersen has mastered that task.
Wins in all three Grand Tours and big victories in the Classics, the Lidl-Trek rider would almost certainly have several Monuments on his palmarès if it weren’t for Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel, with the Dane having finished on the podium of either Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix in each of the last three years.
“I would say when I won the World Championships [aged 23 in 2019] I still had a lot to improve on, I was still up and down with my form and not there every time like I am now, but in the last four years I’ve been up there and been a lot more steady,” the 29-year-old told Cycling Weekly on the eve of the Giro d’Italia.
What’s the key to Pedersen’s remarkable consistency? Delegating tasks to others. “I have zero problems giving other people responsibilities because I have zero interest in food and nutrition, absolutely nothing. I like food, but that’s as far as my interest goes,” he said. “I have zero interest in knowing how many carbs or whatever, so that’s why I need someone who knows this stuff to tell me what to do and they need to be the best.
“I’m not really a geek who’s looking into stuff, and I have a really good group around me. I believe my coach Mattias [Reck] is the best; I believe Jeroen [Heymans] my mechanic is the best; and my nutritionist the same. These guys are also really pushing their limits, and looking into new stuff.
“It’s easier to give these jobs to someone else and they can tell you what to do. I think that’s important as an athlete that you’re able to do that.
“I think that takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders and allows me to focus on what I am good at, and they can focus on what they’re good at. Like this we create a good mixture of a bike rider.”
Statistically-speaking, Lidl-Trek, headed by Pedersen, were the best-performing team of the spring Classics, even if Pogačar and Van der Poel shared the four Monuments between themselves.
Only three weeks separated the end of Paris-Roubaix and the beginning of the Giro in Albania, enough time for Pedersen to decompress, but not enough to take the gas off the pedal completely.
“I went home to Monaco to spend time together with my wife, and training-wise I didn’t do anything too crazy because the shape was good from the Classics so it was a case of managing it well and not gaining weight,” Pedersen said. “It was actually quite an easy three weeks, enjoying a bit of time with my wife.
“When I deliver [results] it’s easier when I am off to pull the plug completely. ‘Now I’m off, see you guys in three weeks’. And I’m able to do that because I’m not that guy who's always looking into the small details.
“Other riders switch off, but they’re actually still on their computers looking into details, while I’m watching Sex and the City for the fifth time with my wife because she likes to watch it.
“That works for some riders and not for others, but it works for me that I can give away the responsibility with all the stuff I care about but I have no interest in knowing more about. That gives me more time to relax when I have to as I don’t have to think about it.”
This will be Pedersen’s fourth appearance at the Giro, and his first since 2023 when he won a stage to complete the Grand Tour stage trilogy. He demands more victories from himself in the coming three weeks.
“For myself the main goal is to have a stage victory – that’s why I am racing: to win as much as possible,” he said. “If we were to dream high, we would set two stages as the main goal, and then the points jersey would also be nice.
“I have it [the points jersey] from the Vuelta a España [in 2022] so it’d be nice to win it here as well, and to also keep up the good rhythm from Jonny [Milan] who won it for the team last year.
“I was pretty good in the Tour de France last year, as well as the Vuelta some years ago, but with this shape that I have, this for sure should be one of the best versions I’ve had of myself.”
