"I work my ass off to win and I don’t do this for anyone else" - Mads Pedersen eager for 'ridiculous' Paris-Roubaix
Cycling
Mads Pedersen crashed just over two months ago, suffering fractures in a collarbone and wrist on opposite sides. Logic would dictate that riding cobbled classics within month and a half at a high level would be near impossible, but the Dane has done it. Now, he looks to cap off his spring campaign with a result on Paris-Roubaix, a race he dreams of winning.
“I was lying on my stomach and I tried to push myself up by putting my hands on the ground, but I couldn’t. Straight away they came to me because I was face down," Pedersen recalled in a press release. This happened on the first day of the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana, which he chose as an alternative to start off his 2026 season.
"The crash was on Wednesday and on Friday I had the operation. By Saturday evening I was on the phone to my coach and I told him: ‘Okay, how are we going to make it back?’ He told me to take it easy at first and we’d do whatever we could do. The problem was I had the left arm in a cast to my shoulder and the right collarbone was broken. I had pain in my back from lifting the cast all the time, it was so heavy".
Recovering in time looked to be an unlikely prospect, with his injuries simply being too severe to train out on the road for several weeks. What this meant was that Pedersen ended up staying an extended period of time training indoors, and a lot of his preparation came from those grueling weeks.
“I think I get this from my mum. She’s a tough woman. I think it’s in her genes, I got most of it between me and my brothers. I think it comes from the toughness of my mum and seeing her commitment to life. Even at an older age she has started to do new studying and achieve new goals which is something nice to see from a woman who is 50-years-old spending her time like that. I hate it when people feel sorry for themselves, it’s just horrible.”
Ego a motivation for Mads Pedersen in Roubaix
Pedersen then made his return to the peloton at Milano-Sanremo where he finished fourth. There was still a big hurdle which were racing in hand-jarring cobbled sectors and having multiple max efforts, which was the case at the E3 Saxo Classic. He finished ninth, proving he could be competitive.
Then followed a 10th place at Dwars door Vlaanderen and a fifth at the Tour of Flanders, where he looked back in peak form. Roubaix is a race that suits him better, lacking the climbs where Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel would ordinarily be able to make the difference, and Lidl-Trek has a more even field.
“When I am racing, I’m the one who puts the most pressure on myself. I want to win, I work my ass off to win and I don’t do this for anyone else. I’m not doing it to make my parents or wife happy. I really couldn’t care. It’s a goal for me,” he explains. “Maybe that’s my big ego or self-confidence but it really is me that motivates me. On the way to success, you also have to fail and maybe you fail under pressure, but I learn from that.”
He is backed by a team of literal heavyweights with Jonathan Milan, Max Walscheid, Jakob Söderqvist, Soren Kragh Andersen, Mathias Vacek, Mathias Norsgaard and Edward Theuns. It is a brutal race where he has finished third in the past two editions.
This Sunday, he can improve on that third place. “Roubaix is ruthless, it’s tough, and that’s what attracts me to it. It’s stupid, it makes no sense, but sometimes I like what is not normal. It’s a ridiculous race, and that’s why it fits me.”
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Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Sure, little fella.awp02-11-2026
- You'll be the ongoing joke of 2027 with anything you post here!frieders302-11-2026
- Awwww your inside information must be from PogiFanGirl. You two daughters of different mothers?frieders302-11-2026
- Hey PogIFanGirl...wipe that cream from your lips! You're ever loving drooling and whatever you have for Tadej has your brain fried!frieders302-11-2026
- Why should he 'let it go' ! Because you said so? Anytime LA Doper is called out is a win win !frieders302-11-2026
- Geez LeMond...let it go. You're a has been, albeit a former great one. But this is all water under the bridge and just undermines your legacy further.Mshark01-11-2026
- 'The Slovenian has collected four Tour de France titles' ... '[Kieran Wood's] ... reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis'. i would say that is pretty inaccurate accurate coverage, kieran wood ... too bad that AI's knowledge often lags several months behind ... but proof reading is certainly part of accurate coverage, isn't it? but fortunately does Kieran Wood place 'strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.' i would say the fifth tdf title is pretty new (and even verified) information, so feel free to update this article.Ketterechts01-11-2026
- You are wrong, they are already working on his new tt position. And yes, Trump does love you 😂👍🏼awp01-11-2026
- The Erola Jons incident was not isolated. She felt she could do that because that's how everyone treats Tadej. Remember when he said "If I say wait 2 mins do you show the middle finger and walk off angry?" about the supposed fan who did exactly that? There's nothing wrong with the nurses and doctors asking him to give autographs... but do the surgery first
Rafionain-Glas01-11-2026 - Perhaps he has what Mark Cavendish had, the Epstein-Barr Virus. It caused him severe and unexplained chronic fatigue. I hope he gets better.
parisbound0001-11-2026
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