"There are some big egos" - Mads Pedersen sees challenges for Michael Morkov as new Danish national coach
Cycling
In 2025, Michael Morkov switches from his role as one of the star leadout men in the peloton, national coach of the Danish team. On paper, a very attractive role, given the vast number of high-quality riders from Denmark. According to one of the nation's stars Mads Pedersen though, there will also be some challenges for Morkov.
"I think it will be good. Michael is a decent person, and I'm looking forward to seeing how he approaches it," says the Lidl-Trek rider in quotes collected by Ekstra Bladet, with Pedersen intrigued to see how his compatriot deals with riders such as Kasper Asgreen, Magnus Cort Nielsen, Mattias Skjelmose, Mikkel Bjerg, Soren Kragh Andersen and of course, Jonas Vingegaard, who has been a notable absentee in recent Olympic Games, European Championships and World Championships.
"There are some big egos that come together on the national team. It takes a man to come up with a plan and put people in their place," Pedersen continues, comparing Morkov to former Danish national coach Anders Lund, who was in his role for nine years. "Anders has managed to do that, and I definitely believe that Michael can do that too."
As far as Pedersen's own goals for 2025 in terms of the national team, the 29-year-old is unsure he and Morkov will actually get to work too closely together in the coming year, due to the difficulty of the proposed parcours. "The European Championships and World Championships are out of the question for a rider like me," he admits with honesty. "I'm really just going to be a fill-in for the national team for the next 12 months."
That's not to say Pedersen is adverse to competing in a purely domestique role though. "If there are considerations about whether I should participate in some cycling races to help, we will of course look into it," concludes the 2019 Rainbow Jersey winner.
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- Everyone on Armstrong's team doped. It was a prerequisite for joining and getting the big money.Sweep04-01-2025
- Happy for him he can see he’s still got it after all those difficulties.Mistermaumau04-01-2025
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- Nice!awp04-01-2025
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- A very good mental victory for Wout tooRide197404-01-2025