“It’s terrible — but terribly effective” - Mads Pedersen preparing for Giro d'Italia return with brutally unique training method

For the fourth time in his career, Mads Pedersen is heading to the Giro d'Italia in 2025. After a strong Spring saw the Dane consistently impress, albeit without adding that illusive Monument win to palmares, Pedersen is stepping up his preparation for a return to Italy with a special and rather unique training method.

So what is this approach? Well, Pedersen is using a demanding heat training method that involves riding indoors for around an hour each day while wearing full winter gear. The sessions begin at a steady 270 watts, with Pedersen allowing his heart rate to climb steadily — often finishing with 15 minutes at 255–270 watts and a heart rate nearing 180 bpm. “It’s terrible — but terribly effective,” explains the Lidl-Trek star in the latest episode of the Lang Distance podcast. “It’s awful training. I’d rather ride seven hours a day for a full week.”

Though he describes the training as “awful,” Pedersen swears by its effectiveness. The approach is designed to simulate racing in hot conditions, promoting physiological adaptations such as increased blood plasma volume, improved cardiovascular performance, better thermoregulation, and enhanced resistance to dehydration — all crucial for endurance in the challenging terrain and climate of the Giro.

“It really pays off. It increases the plasma in your blood, but also triggers heat adaptation,” explains the Danish former world champion. “The way I do it is I start out at 270 watts, and then I just let my heart rate rise until I’m done. In the last 15 minutes, I stay between 255 and 270 watts. My heart rate goes from 110 at the start to around 175–180 by the end.”

Pedersen is famously a bit different to the majority of modern riders when it comes to getting the best out of himself. The Dane roundly refuses to go to any altitude training camps and at Paris-Nice earlier this year, was powered to a stage win after drinking a can of monster mid-race. Will this latest method pay off with a successful Giro return for the stage winner back in 2023? We will find out soon enough.