Mads Pedersen's coach: "We may not have the same talent as Van Aert & Van der Poel, but you can still beat them if you ride smart and Mads is incredibly smart"

Mads Pedersen has a clear goal in his mind ahead of the 2025 season. The Dane wants Monument glory for the first time in his career. In the opinion of his coach Mattias Reck, a big benefit for Pedersen is his strength of mind as much as his leg strength.

"Cycling is peaking in many ways right now when it comes to these riders. So it's an incredible period. And even though Pedersen is exceptionally good, it requires something else and more than just raw physics when you have to beat these riders," explains Reck to Ekstra Bladet about his rider's Classics prospects in the coming year. "Mads is on his way to getting into the super league, and that is our goal. We realize that we may not have the same talent as Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel, but you can still beat them if you ride smart in the races and Mads is incredibly smart."

Being able to beat the likes of Van Aert and Van der Poel on the biggest stages and in the biggest races is a big motivation for Pedersen says his coach. "It drives him a lot," Reck notes. "He wants to be a winner and he wants to win big races."

At Lidl-Trek, the Dane can also call upon some of the best support riders in the peloton too. "It is really important to have a strong team. and now we also have Soren Kragh Andersen. So our Classic squad is really good. The level has never been so high," Reck explains, noting riders such as Jasper Stuyven, Jonathan Milan, Mathias Vacek, Toms Skujins, Alex Kirsch and Tim Declerq.

"If Mads had not crashed in Dwars door Vlaanderen, and we had had a helper or two more, the difference would not have been so great to Van der Poel (In Flanders and Paris-Roubaix). I'm not saying Mads had won, but it would had been closer," Reck concludes. "The way Roubaix was now was almost boring. It will be different next year."