“I’ve broken too many front wheels,” laments Pedersen — regret for younger Mads at Lidl-Trek

Mads Pedersen says he regrets not always being as focused and determined at the start of his career. The 29-year-old Dane of Lidl-Trek has in recent years made an impression as a steamroller in the peloton, but by his own admission he could — and perhaps should — have won much more in his younger years. However, he admits he didn’t always take things seriously, confessed Pedersen on the podcast Lang Distance.

At the time of the interview, Pedersen had collected 60 career wins — yet the vast majority came only after 2021. Up to 2020 his win tally stood at 15, albeit including the surprise and brilliant world title in 2019 in Yorkshire. Also in the pandemic year of 2020 he already won Gent–Wevelgem.

From 2021 onwards things really took off for Pedersen. It began with Kuurne–Brussel–Kuurne, followed in 2022 by his first stage win in the Tour de France. He then added no fewer than three stage victories and the points jersey in the Vuelta a España. In 2023 he completed the hat-trick by also winning a stage in the Giro d’Italia, and in 2024 and 2025 he added more edition wins of Gent–Wevelgem.

Over just four seasons he won no fewer than 11 stages in Grand Tours: five in the Giro, two in the Tour and four in the Vuelta. In the 2025 Giro and the 2022 and 2025 Vuelta he also won the points jersey. As attention now turns to 2026, many are eager to see what he might still achieve — the floodgates appear fully open.

Looking back on a decade with Lidl-Trek, Pedersen admits that in his first four seasons with the team he could already have won much more. “I should have taken things more seriously. The team also told me I needed to be more focused. I broke too many front wheels because I rode into someone’s rear wheel”, Feltet quotes from the Danish podcast.

Pedersen says he was “too much messing around during training camps.” As a result, results lagged behind. “The focus was not on cycling, so I told myself that had to change.” And change he did. Pedersen now has a lifetime contract at Lidl-Trek, where he is the team's big star.