“Mads Pedersen gets better every year” – Jan Bakelants hails Lidl-Trek leader as last of a dying breed

Mads Pedersen has never fitted neatly into one box. Not a pure sprinter, not a pure classics brute, not a GC rider. Yet year after year, he keeps winning, keeps adapting, and keeps adding layers to his career.

That is exactly what caught the attention of Jan Bakelants when he spoke in conversation with Sporza’s Vive le Velo at the Velofollies cycling fair. Looking ahead to the 2026 season, Bakelants singled out the Lidl-Trek leader in a way that went beyond results. “Mads Pedersen gets better every year,” he said, before adding that he is “an incredibly strong rider”.

Bakelants was not just praising power. He was praising independence. He contrasted Pedersen with a generation shaped by data, systems and specialists. “They no longer think for themselves,” he said of many modern riders. “That ability to reason for yourself has faded, because everything is outsourced.”

Then came the line that defined his view of Pedersen: “With Pedersen, that is the case. He knows what worked before and he does not have to throw it all away just because a specialist from a certain university has said something.”

In Bakelants’ eyes, that makes Pedersen something rare in the modern peloton. A rider who still races with instinct.

Pedersen’s career already has enough landmarks to stand on its own. World champion in 2019, multiple Gent-Wevelgem wins, stage victories in all three Grand Tours, and a growing reputation as one of the most complete one-day riders of his generation.

But what makes his story unusual is not where it started. It is how it has kept evolving.

In 2025, he produced what many called the best season of his career. He won Gent-Wevelgem again, stood on Monument podiums, took multiple Grand Tour stages and controlled points competitions, and dominated his home Tour of Denmark overall. He was not doing the same job better. He was doing more jobs at once.

That is where Bakelants’ idea of Pedersen as a “dying breed” starts to make sense. He is not locked into one role. He can sprint, survive hard classics, ride long breakaways, and manage three-week races with consistency. But he does it without looking like a rider waiting for instructions every kilometre.

Bakelants framed it simply. Pedersen knows what has worked for him. And he does not abandon it just because a new theory appears.

Cycling has never been more scientific. Power, aerodynamics, nutrition, recovery and psychology are now measured, tested and optimised. Bakelants does not reject that world. He even said he would rather be a pro now than 15 years ago.

But he also sees a cost. “Many riders can no longer make their own plan,” he said.

Pedersen stands apart because he blends both worlds. He uses modern systems but does not disappear inside them. When races break apart, he still looks like a rider making decisions, not just following a script.

That has been visible again and again in his biggest wins. Long solo moves in classics. Smart positioning in reduced sprints. Choosing when to commit and when to let go. These are not just physical acts. They are judgment calls.

That is what Bakelants was really praising. Not just strength, but self-trust.

As Pedersen enters 2026, he does so as one of the most reliable winners in the peloton and one of the hardest riders to categorise. His team, Lidl-Trek, have built heavily around him, even tying their long-term identity to his presence.

The next step in his story is not about proving he can win. He has already done that across almost every terrain. It is about whether this mix of instinct and evolution can finally carry him to the one prize still missing from his palmares: a Monument like Flanders or Roubaix.

Bakelants did not make predictions. He made an observation. In a sport increasingly shaped by systems, Mads Pedersen still races like a man who trusts his own head.

And as long as he keeps getting better every year, that way of racing may not be dying at all. It may just be winning.