“The plan is to end my cycling career after..." - Mads Pedersen reveals he has retirement date in mind
CyclingThursday, 16 July 2026 at 10:40
Mads Pedersen, the surprise winner of the 2019 Yorkshire World Championships, turned into one of the peloton's best classics specialists and sprinters, is currently at the head of the Tour de France. In a honest interview, the Lidl-Trek rider opened up about his thoughts of retirement, family life and the goals he has left whilst he races.
Pedersen still wants the Tour green jersey and a monument
It is not a topic that the Dane has spoken about openly in the past, but when asked in an interview with TV2, his insight shows that it is not a thought that has been buried in his head. Pedersen has a moment in which he believes it might be ideal to hang up the wheels.
“For me, it would be a special place to finish my career. The plan is to end my cycling career after the World Championships in Copenhagen," he shared with the Danish news outlet. That would be in 2029, when his home country will host the World Championships as happened in 2011.
“Everything comes to an end. For me, that moment will come when I can no longer fight for victory, then I do not belong here anymore".
A rider with a winning mindset, and a leader since young age, that is how he wants to be remembered. "It would be very difficult for me to change as a rider, from being a leader and a winner to someone who always has to help others.”
This is open to change, but it is quite likely that as the 2020's decade comes to an end, so does his career. But before he does, he wants to win the green jersey at the Tour de France - which he currently holds into stage 12 of the Grand Boucle - and a monument.
“People should not think that I have already planned my retirement and know what I am going to do afterwards. I am still in a bubble where everything is about the green jersey and that damn Monument I am missing. And when I have won one Monument, I will want another one".
Currently in the green jersey, Mads Pedersen may finally achieve one of his biggest career goals
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Desire to start a family changes Pedersen's mindset
However a separate topic has changed his outlook on a potential retirement date. Professional cycling is a very demanding job schedule wise, and riders spend months away from home each year on events and training camps.
Pedersen argues that he would likely to become a father after departing the peloton, seeing the consequences that the demands have had on colleagues.
“It takes its toll on the body. I also have a wife at home, and at some point we want to start a family. We are reaching an age where that is going to happen.”
“I have had teammates in the past who had problems with their family life, perhaps because their father was not at home. It hurt me to see that at the time, and I do not want to end up in the same situation," he admits.
Hence, sporting and personal reasons will ultimately combine as the motive behind the end of his career, when it happens. “I would prefer to end my career a little earlier and start a family, because life is long," he puts it bluntly.
However, that in no way looks to be a reason to slow down in the meantime. “I have already achieved a lot of what I wanted to achieve in the sport. And I believe I will achieve the final few things before I stop.”
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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- Its known as courtesy not rules, tradition not laws.abstractengineer16-07-2026
- nobody dispute the accident even though it was largely due to him even after Poels had warned him. The problem is sticking to the false narrative that he was capable of winning the tdf for 5 years, the numbers were close etc even when he was getting dropped midway in races , trying to mislead everybodyabstractengineer16-07-2026
- He got lucky with Vuelta, TDF is a blood bath, even Jonas lost 2:30 in a stageabstractengineer16-07-2026
- The unwritten rule is probably to go for the win or not, not in between like UAE did. They pulled hard, keeping it in range, in order to sprint with Torito. Then they switched to the energy saving mode and got Ineos and Lidl-Trek to pull. What that effectively means is that they are helping the peloton against the breakaway without wanting to go for the win themselves, which is unsportsmanly. One theory is that Pogačar would have wanted to follow van der Poel, his eternal rival, but realised it wasn't worth it as he'd drag all the GC riders with him and spend his teammates. So he wanted to let van der Poel know that he could have been present in the fight for the win.
Rafionain-Glas16-07-2026 - There certainly are unwritten rules that should and are respected. However going for the win when when it's a fair fight ain't one of them..IMO. Hope Pog gets the win record, he already gifted one to a his team mate.Santiago16-07-2026
- 😀Hills3316-07-2026
- “There are also unwritten rules that should be respected” - it is a total BS. There is only one rule in cycling - whoever crosses the finish line first -> wins. (or who has lower cumulative time, most points - depending on type of race/tour)averagecyclist16-07-2026
- Chapeau to Wærenskjold. He’s not a big name but has quietly said he turned down the chance to ride for UAE as he didn’t want to promote the Emirates; similarly he declined to take part in the Al Ula Tour.”
Andrew16-07-2026 - Your proctologist called, he found your head.Andrew16-07-2026
- Never...NEVER... get blacklisted by the UAE Team... they will keep hunting you down and punishing you. Their main "executioner," their UAE appointed official, is The Alien, the SLOVENIAN TERMINATOR!!! Jonas is not on Pogi's blacklist, he's just his main rival and opponent. Yes, Jorgenson is on the blacklist... and he knows exactly why. He asked for it.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales16-07-2026
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