Mads Pedersen changes Tour de France preparation - Former world champion won't be at Baloise belgium Tour as he picks new race
Cycling
Mads Pederen has made a late change to his preparations for the 2026 Tour de France, making a surprise change that will mean he won't appear at the Baloise Belgium Tour. Seemingly the perfect tune-up for the Danish rider, he will instead focus on two major goals before July.
Pedersen is now expected to turn his attention to the Danish National Championships, where he is scheduled to compete in both the individual time trial and road race. The time trial will take place on June 26th and the road race on June 28th - meaning he would wrap up his preparations a week before the Grand Depart.
According to reports, Pedersen's training has not been impacted and the move is just a change in his racing program, meaning that he should arrive at the Tour de France with no fitness concerns.
Pedersen has endured a mixed season so far, initially suffering a broken left wrist and a fractured right collarbone at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana early in the year before bouncing back at the classics.
Mads Pedersen to target first Tour de France green jersey
Fourth in Milano-Sanremo, fifth in Tour of Flanders and seventh in Paris-Roubaix once again proved a consistent spring campaign for the 30-year-old. However, since then he only raced the Boucles de la Mayenne in late May - taking a second place in stage 3 and fourth overall.
He returns to the Tour de France after sweeping up victories in the 2025 Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana. In the Giro, he took four victories as well as the points classification. Later in the year, he grabbed a Vuelta stage win and also took home the points classification.
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Pedersen is expected to challenge for the points classification, having never won the illustrious green jersey.
In a hugely competitive sprint field, he faces stiff competition from the likes of Tim Merlier, Jasper Philipsen, Wout van Aert and Biniam Girmay among other contenders.
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- What kind of sauce is on that rice? Ketchup?Kbd05-11-2026
- 18 broken bones. 78 crashes, among 30 rider per year is a lot. so for a rider over 15 seasons, they will break their bones 7-8 times and crash 38 times.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- i dont think he is ready ot win against the top 2 or the 2nd rung of evenepoel, del toro , Almeida. In the third week in the TDF he was very very defensive, no attacks. i think he was exhausted. right now he needs time not the brutal Giro or the intense TDF.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- Rota is an excellent rider to get in a break with because he always does his turnchapmanesque04-11-2026
- That 3000 extra that the Tour de France is built up in the flat stages
Rafionain-Glas04-11-2026 - maybe this is something else they can protest in the streets of France.mij04-11-2026
- his Roubaix win was amazing. not to take anything away from him - arguably one of MVDP's wins was at the expense of a WVA flat - but so many things need to line up to get one of these. He had a perfect race with fewer bike issues on an attritional course. And crazy strong as usual. Glad he got this done.mij04-11-2026
- Orts was a super smart signing with the new rules regarding cross and UCI pointsmij04-11-2026
- yeah... you're right...PogiSloFans04-11-2026
- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
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