"I needed to take things more seriously – I messed around too much": Mads Pedersen admits lack of focus cost him big results earlier in his career

Mads Pedersen has offered a strikingly honest reflection on the early years of his career, admitting on the Lang Distance podcast that his lack of focus cost him results and slowed his development.

The Lidl-Trek leading Dane says that if he could give one piece of advice to his younger self, it would be to take the sport far more seriously from day one. “I’d probably say that I needed to take things more seriously. The team also told me I had to be more focused. I smashed too many front wheels because I rode into other riders,” he said.

Pedersen explained that his mindset as a neo-pro was often too relaxed, particularly during training camps, and that the lack of discipline inevitably affected his race performances.

“I messed around a bit too much when we were on training camps. I missed results because the focus just wasn’t there in the races. So I’d tell myself: keep your focus on what you’re doing.”

Those early habits stand in stark contrast to the career he has built since. Pedersen broke through with second place at the Tour of Flanders in 2018 before winning the elite men’s road race at the UCI Road World Championships the following year, becoming Denmark’s first male world champion in the discipline.

What followed has been one of the most consistently productive palmares of the modern era: stage wins in all three Grand Tours, victories at the likes of Gent-Wevelgem, overall titles at Tour de la Provence, the Deutschland Tour and Tour of Denmark, as well as a steady stream of WorldTour one-day successes.

The 2025 season added another substantial chapter. Pedersen claimed his third Gent-Wevelgem title in March, dominated the Giro d’Italia points classification with four stage wins, and later added another points jersey at the Vuelta a Espana alongside a further victory. He also won both the overall and the time trial in Denmark, and took the general classification at Tour de la Provence as part of a campaign that saw him reach double-digit wins before illness brought an early end to his season in October.