Mads Pedersen is looking forward to the upcoming battle with Wout van Aert at the Vuelta a España

Mads Pedersen will be at the start of the Vuelta a España on Saturday for the second year in a row. The Dane won the green jersey last year, but after completing his Grand Tour trilogy of points classifications at the Tour de France, he has set his sights in Spain primarily on winning as many stages as possible.

Pedersen is someone who never beats around the bush, and he’s certainly not doing that on TV2 ahead of the start of the Vuelta a España. “I’m here to win stages—there’s no doubt about that,” he said. In addition, the face of Lidl-Trek has another goal.

"I don't know what 'Skjel' (team leader Mattias Skjelmose, ed.) himself has said, but it would be a dream come true for me to see him on the podium at a Grand Tour—and to have helped him get there. So I hope that's possible."

The race kicks off in Monaco, Pedersen’s hometown, with a short and technical time trial. He plans to go all out right from the start. “I’m going to ride it and try to win, and then we’ll see what happens. But winning the red jersey isn’t a goal for me, because then I don’t have to think about whether it’s realistic or not.”

On day two, the Vuelta heads toward an uphill finish in Manosque, where Pedersen won the Tour de la Provence in 2024 and 2025. By his own admission, he’s going “all in” for that stage, but he doesn’t know the rest of the route like the back of his hand yet.

"I haven't studied the course in detail yet , but I think there will be five to seven opportunities, although a few of them will be very difficult because they're tough stages. "I’ll need the climbing legs I had in the final week of the Tour," said Pedersen, who will also be going head-to-head with Wout van Aert—a repeat of the 2025 Giro.

"It's always great to race against Wout, of course. We've had some great races together. For me, it's always a pleasure to race against a rider of that caliber and sometimes be able to beat him. I’m definitely looking forward to the next three weeks so I can compete against him as hard as possible,” said the Dane.

Just like Van Aert, Pedersen isn't holding back with the World Championships in mind. “The course in Canada is a bit too tough for me. So I’m not using the Vuelta to prepare for the World Championships. I’m here to go for stage wins, and then we’ll see if I’m selected for the World Championships and how my form is at that point.”