"If the team hadn’t told him to go home, he wouldn’t have done it" - Mattias Skjelmose on Mads Pedersen's La Vuelta withdrawal
CyclingThursday, 03 September 2026 at 16:23
Mads Pedersen has abandoned the Vuelta a España after falling ill. For Lidl-Trek, it is a disastrous situation as its leader wasn't able to perform whilst in the race itself. Mattias Skjelmose, teammate and compatriot, believes Pedersen would've continued even if he was ill.
“There is no point in continuing. There was something in his body, because his training for the Vuelta had been good," team DS Kim Andersen said in an interview with TV2.
Pedersen rode the Tour de France and entered the Vuelta with the aim of capturing a stage win, assist the team's GC ambitions and also prepare for the World Championships.
His first days in the race saw him finish amongst the first, but the Dane looked to be in increasing difficulties as the race moved on. He had also been absent from some sprint stages where he was deemed as one of the big favourites. That was because Pedersen was diagnosed with an infection, not just a regular illness.
“It had already started a few days before he came here with a cold. You didn’t think it was anything worse than that. But the tests we carried out yesterday showed that it is not a virus, but an infection, so he needs antibiotics.”
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If Pedersen wasn't told, he wouldn't leave La Vuelta
Skjelmose, who has had in Pedersen perhaps his most important domestique in the first week, loses a key support rider. But he aknowledges that his teammate's continuation in the race would not be beneficial.
“It wasn’t nice for me to see Mads suffer like that,” he said. “If the team hadn’t told him to go home, he wouldn’t have done it. He would never give up himself. But it wasn’t worthy of him. He was riding so far below the level we know he is capable of that it wasn’t good for him to be here either.”
Can Pedersen be a factor at the World Championships?
The two will be eyeing the World Championships, in which Skjelmose will be the leader of the Danish national teams. Pedersen is perhaps seen as an outsider in the Lidl-Trek camp.
“Mads really believes in the Worlds. Even though it’s hard, I think he can do really well," Skjelmose assures of the classics specialist.
“Then we’ll have to see whether Tadej [Pogacar] competes. I believe Mads can fight for the medals, and I know that’s also one of the reasons why he is stopping here.”
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)...
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