"I said ‘this can’t be possible'" - Mads Pedersen on the nightmare of following Tadej Pogacar at Paris-Roubaix's cobbles

Racing against Tadej Pogacar and actually being within a shot at contention is something only a few riders can ever do, but even amongst those, the sentiment is often that of disbelief. Mads Pedersen has described well what it is like sharing a peloton with the Slovenian and racing against him at Paris-Roubaix.

At age 30, the Lidl-Trek rider continues to show his very best level with frequency, despite not doing altitude camp - a rare instance in the current peloton. “... I have no problem leaving the training planning to my coaches. I just do what he says. I believe that what he does is perfect," Pedersen said on an episode of the Sigma Sports Cafe Ride with Matt Stephens.

Residents in the same area on the Côte d'Azur, Pedersen admits that he does not often go to Pogacar's terrain because there is a factor to take into consideration: He will know that he will compare himself to the World Champion on uphill sectors.

“To keep my own morale up, I often stay away from places where he’s set records. He’s on a whole different level," the former World Champion said.

Although he is not a climber, in races such as Milano-Sanremo and the Tour of Flanders Pedersen has high goals and climbing to tackle, and he is far from a rider who can only handle himself on the flat terrain.

This spring, Pedersen had to overcome injury and return to racing at Milano-Sanremo, with weeks to go towards the cobbled monuments. Paris-Roubaix was the main goal, in which he finished seventh.

However, he was part of Tadej Pogacar's comeback, and witnessed first hand just how fast the Slovenian was working through the cobbled sectors. “I was putting out 750 watts on the cobbles, on the flat. I said ‘this can’t be possible. You have to outlast him!’"

But then boom. They say you have to race smart to beat Tadej. But good luck with that, buddy," he argues. The Dane is yet to win a monument and that is much due to the presence of two generational talents such as Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel, who have been ruling over the monuments for the past few years.

But it is not something Pedersen will outlast his rivals in or can hope for that anytime soon. “When people ask me if I hate racing during the same era as someone like Pogacar, I say no. It’s great. But the day I hopefully beat him in a Monument someday will be even better.”