Mads Pedersen targets Jonas Vingegaard’s Grand Tour record as Wout van Aert Vuelta duel looms

Mads Pedersen announced after the Tour de France that he will return to the Vuelta a España this year. Speaking on his Lang Distance podcast, which he hosts alongside Kristan Egholm, the Lidl-Trek rider discussed his plans for the Spanish Grand Tour and confirmed that he will also compete at the World Championships in Montreal.

After the Tour de France, where he won a stage and secured the green jersey, Pedersen rode a criterium in Surhuisterveen in the Netherlands. He has now returned to training and is beginning a specific preparation block for the Vuelta, which starts in his hometown of Monaco and is then held almost entirely in southern Spain.

“Mattias [his coach, Mattias Reck] has put heat-training sessions into the program. There are wildfires everywhere in Spain at the moment, so it is going to be tough in that heat. I had better start getting used to it,” Pedersen said. Lidl-Trek sports director Steven de Jongh already told IDL Pro Cycling during the Tour that Pedersen is becoming increasingly comfortable in hot conditions, partly because he lives in Monaco.

Pedersen won the Vuelta points classification in both 2022 and 2025. However, after completing his set of points-classification victories across all three Grand Tours at the Tour de France, he indicated that chasing those jerseys would become slightly less important. So what does he want to achieve at this year’s Vuelta a España?

“A few stage wins would be lovely,” the Dane said. “I want to have 15 Grand Tour stage victories before I retire. I have 12 now — five in the Giro, three in the Tour and four in the Vuelta — so if I can add another three at this Vuelta, I will be up to 15 and I will not need to win any more,” he added with a wink.

Co-host Egholm pointed out that Wout van Aert had pulled off the same feat at the Tour of Denmark that Pedersen achieved one year earlier, winning three stages and the overall classification. When Egholm suggested that he expected another duel between the pair, similar to the one they fought at the 2025 Giro d’Italia, Pedersen nodded. “Yes, that is going to be cool.”

Jonas Vingegaard is currently the Danish professional with the most Grand Tour stage victories. “He has not overtaken me in total wins yet, has he? Wait, he has 14? Damn. Four in the Tour, five in the Giro and five in the Vuelta... Well, then I will have to see whether I can catch him this year. It is a nice little internal battle that we have together.”

Later in September, Pedersen hopes to compete alongside Vingegaard at the World Championships in Canada. “I hope Jonas can give us something to cheer about at the World Championships this year. I hope his collarbone heals properly before we race the Worlds in September, so I can do the World Championships together with him.”