“Mads Pedersen is not someone you should write off” – Former teammate offers hope over Mads Pedersen’s Spring Classics recovery
Cycling
As questions continue to swirl around Mads Pedersen’s chances of making a meaningful impact in the Spring Classics after his early-season crash, one former teammate believes it is far too early to rule him out.
Jasper Stuyven, who spent nine seasons alongside Pedersen at Lidl-Trek, has urged caution against drawing firm conclusions, pointing to both Pedersen’s mentality and the potential value of unconventional preparation methods during recovery. Speaking to Sporza, Stuyven struck a tone of realism rather than blind optimism, but made clear that Pedersen’s situation is far from hopeless.
“Mads is not someone you should write off,” Stuyven said.
Pedersen crashed and abandoned his season debut at the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana with fractures to both his wrist and collarbone, an outcome that immediately cast doubt over a spring campaign built around the cobbled Classics. Lidl-Trek quickly acknowledged that the Flemish races would be difficult, with the wrist injury in particular presenting an obvious complication.
Why early movement matters
A short video showing Pedersen already training on the rollers has since drawn attention, but Stuyven was quick to explain that such behaviour is typical among elite riders rather than a guarantee of rapid recovery.
“That’s typical of cyclists,” he said. “After a crash, most riders want to get back on the bike as quickly as possible.”
“You might then, perhaps against better judgment, try to move a bit on the rollers. And then you just hope that it goes well.”
For Pedersen, the ability to maintain some form of structured workload while protecting the injured wrist could prove valuable, particularly with time already lost from a carefully planned early-season build-up.
Stuyven was previously a key part of Lidl-Trek's Classics ambitions alongside Pedersen
Lessons from experience
Stuyven’s perspective is shaped by experience. Two years ago, he himself broke his collarbone in the mass crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen, an incident that derailed his own spring campaign.
“Unlike Mads, I wasn’t back on the rollers after five days,” he explained. “Not because my broken collarbone limited me, but because of the heavy impact of that nasty crash.”
“For the first few days I couldn’t breathe properly and my rib cage was badly bruised. Because of that, getting back on the bike wasn’t even something I was thinking about at that moment.”
Stuyven did not return to the rollers until ten days after his crash, which coincided with the day of Paris-Roubaix, before eventually making his comeback a month later at the Giro. The comparison underlines how individual recovery timelines can vary widely, even with similar injuries.
Rollers as a bridge, not a solution
The sight of Pedersen training indoors has also prompted comparisons with Mathew Hayman, who famously prepared for weeks on the rollers after breaking his elbow in 2016 before winning Paris-Roubaix. Stuyven cautioned against simplistic parallels, but acknowledged the role rollers can play.
“Training on the rollers is very efficient in terms of workload,” he said. “You can carry out your intervals in a very targeted way.”
“If you have the mental strength for it, training on the rollers can certainly be a good bridging period after an injury.”
That mental component is key. Pedersen had been scheduled to attend altitude camp and race through Paris-Nice as part of his route toward the Classics, plans that are now off the table. Indoor training may help preserve fitness, but it cannot fully replicate the demands of the road.
A spring still shaped by uncertainty
Stuyven was careful not to overstate Pedersen’s chances, stressing that every injury must be assessed individually and that the wrist will ultimately dictate how quickly full training can resume.
“The key thing for Mads will be when he can really start putting load through his wrist again in training,” he said. “That will largely determine how fit he is when the spring begins.”
It is a measured view that aligns with earlier assessments: the collarbone is expected to heal predictably, while the wrist remains the great unknown, particularly for a rider targeting the brutal stresses of Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
For now, optimism is conditional rather than guaranteed. But in Stuyven’s eyes, Pedersen’s resilience and willingness to adapt mean one thing is clear.
Mads Pedersen, he insists, is not someone to write off just yet.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- This is a phenomenal course design. I do wish that they'd stretch these tours for the women to at least 2 weeks.RidesHills03-11-2026
- This is an amazing route, honestly. Let's hope that it attracts riders to make it a compelling and competitive race. Side bar amusement: going to Slovenia and passing pretty close to Pogačar's house. I wonder if they were tempting him to get all 3 jerseys at once after winning the Tour and Vuelta. After all, only a very few have ever had all three at the same time (Froome being the last).RidesHills03-11-2026
- He was a child two years ago
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - A great route aswell. Col d'Arpy is a toughieRafionain-Glas03-11-2026
- Let Torito have a shot at itRafionain-Glas03-11-2026
- A great route, much more exciting than the Tour de France. Monte Livata is an interesting one, because they experimented with it at the 2026 Baby Giro, and it was fantastic. 4 km at 10%, then 10 km at 6.5% made for a great spectacle. The stage 16 is horrible. Montaner is also used in the U23s, in Giro del BelvedereRafionain-Glas03-11-2026
- I remember when Mark went through that. He was really experiencing lows and thought about quiting many times. It took him a long time to recover. I, like many others were overjoyed when he came back. I hope Lafay has been tested. I wish him the best.Paggss03-11-2026
- That sucks for him. I've always wondered what guys like him do after retiring from cycling - go back to uni? He's still a very young manCrashjames03-11-2026
- Good Point, I wonder if he's been testedmhfrvz03-11-2026
- A busy boy!Lozza03-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment