In 2025 we are witnessing the rise of Mads Pedersen to a new level. A former World Champion and rider of a tremendous level for many years now, but Lidl-Trek have developed the Dane into a perfect position where at this point in time, he begins to match the level of riders such as Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel.
“Since the era of a few impostors who stole or attempted to steal the stars of a corrupted era (Riis, Rasmussen), now two men with completely opposite physiques have come from Denmark to redeem the damned marks of the past (Vingegaard, Pedersen),” Marc Fayet wrote in his column for Cyclism’Actu.
“One is as emaciated as the other is dolled-up, one is as white as the other is dark, one is as ethereal as the other is earthbound. One is at the forefront of tomorrow’s champion, and the other is the resurrection of yesterday’s champion. At a time when we adore graceful climbers, when we admire their ability to be as light as a breeze, it’s time to celebrate the thick, powerfully heavyweight champions”.
Pedersen’s 2025 season has been packed with triumphs and strong results ever since he began racing in February. With his sharp-tongued remarks, ambition and more traditional approach to training – he is not a fan of altitude training and avoids it – the 29-year old has gained quite a lot of popularity, specially taking into consideration his aggressive style of racing.
He won the Tour de la Provence alongside it’s queen stage, won a stage at Paris-Nice where he climbed better than ever and played an incredible domestique role for Mattias Skjelmose… Currently at the Giro, besides his four stage wins, virtually confirmed points classification win and several days in the pink jersey, he is also taking on a domestique role for Giulio Ciccone and Mathias Vacek at the same time.
However none of these can be called his season’s highlights, as during the spring he rode to 7th at Milano-Sanremo, 5th at Dwars door Vlaanderen, 2nd at the E3 Saxo Classic, won Gent Wevelgem and joined both Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel on the podium of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. In several races, he proved to be the strongest outside of the ‘big two’, and his consistency now for several months is a feat to be admired. Pedersen’s level is truly incredible at the time being, and rightfully he is being compared to the riders that were his main challengers this spring.
For weeks, Mads has been constantly challenging the two geniuses, the Slovenian and the Dutchman, often in vain. Without calculation and driven solely by his own will, he often remained the last of the brave, proving that giving up was not part of his reason,” Fayet argued.
“He would rather die than weaken, for there is always hope at the end, that of continuing his collection of Gent Wevelgem’s, of which he already owns two pairs. He imagined himself recently reaching Roubaix or San Remo with his arms in the air and his head in the clouds; the outclassed riders left him no room”.
Besides all the top results in which he did not win, the Dane has already collected eight wins by this time, six of them at World Tour level, and he is the second rider with the most UCI points this season. Simultaneously, he has signed a lifelong contract with the American team and the supporting work for his co-leaders in the team continue to build a dynamic that is rare in rival teams and which can further benefit him in the future.
