Mads Pedersen ambitious ahead of Paris-Roubaix: "The absolute dream scenario for me would of course be to finish alone, with a lead of a minute or two"
Cycling
Mads Pedersen is motivated, he has said in the pre-race press conference at Paris-Roubaix that the stars are aligned and it may be his best ever chance of winning a monument. The leader of Lidl-Trek is on great form, with a strong and experienced team, and hopes of be Mathieu van der Poel's biggest rival on the road this Sunday.
"It is no secret that Jasper Philipsen will be difficult to beat in the sprint. If it becomes a sprint with a small group, then I of course hope that he is no longer there," the Dane said to many at this Friday's press conference, in words collected by Wielerflits. "The absolute dream scenario for me would of course be to finish alone, with a lead of a minute or two. Without stress. Then you can still have a puncture in the last twenty kilometers.”
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Of course, that is a very ambitious and non-realistic scenario, but a victory is not. Pedersen has won Gent - Wevelgem this spring ahead of the World Champion, a race where Lidl-Trek proved that they can use their numbers to do great damage. Jonathan Milan was the other key figure on that day and the Italian powerhouse himself will be a very interesting figure in the cobbles of northern France after the form he displayed this spring.
However as Pedersen knows, this is a race that is about much more than just the legs or tactics. Despite being good, he hasn't yet won Roubaix: “I think it's more a combination of bad luck and not being good enough. I said last year that my main goal for this race was to finally get to the final. And this year we are going for the same approach. Of course I dream of winning the competition, but I also know how tough it is and that first and foremost you have to make sure that your material will hold up.”
The Dane was fourth last year and is looking to improve on that this time around, with the podium being very possible. “You have to be lucky that you don't have a puncture at the wrong time or have something else in mind for your bike," he is aware of however.
"But it is true: if you look at the race itself, the course, you see much fewer elevation meters than in the Tour of Flanders. It's more about developing high speed and that suits me better. I just have to prove it with good results.”
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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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- Are you MrMauMau 2.0? Nothing you are saying is really relevant. Vaguely connected, but irrelevant. The conversation is whether Schreiber impeded Brand or not.
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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- There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
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Take us to church 🪨⛪️ #ParisRoubaix #ParisRoubaixFemmes
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