Van Der Poel teammate and former U23 world champion retired at the age of 27 - "I continued riding my bike even after I thought it was fun"
Cycling
Alpecin-Premier Tech's Johan Price-Pejtersen is out of contract at the end of 2026. Despite being 27-years-old, the Danish rider will not be looking for a new contract and instead will be retiring from cycling after losing his passion for the sport.
In a cycling world of Tadej Pogacar's dominance and increasingly fine margins for innovation, nutrition and training, the Dane has lost his joy for cycling despite being a teammate of Mathieu van der Poel and once U23 time trial world champion.
From 2019 to 2021, the Dane emerged as a time trial man for the future as he won two U23 European Championships alongside his 2021 World Championships. He went on to take a third place at the Chrono des Nations in 2024 but never reached the soaring heights of the discipline's frontrunners Remco Evenepoel and Filippo Ganna.
In stage racing, top tens at races such as the Tour de Suisse, Tour de Romandie and a Giro d'Italia campaign weren't enough to keep his passion for the sport.
Citing difficulties with the mental side of the sport, he opened up on a period with the Belgian team that training became torturous - inducing feelings of nausea with every ride.
After five years at World Tour level - two at Alpecin and three seasons at Bahrain-Victorious - Price-Pejtersen admitted that he had come to the decision some time ago after reaching a stage he previously vowed would be the last straw.
"I continued riding my bike even after I thought it was fun"
"It's an upheaval, but it's also a decision I made quite a long time ago,” Price-Pejtersen said, speaking on the Danish cycling podcast Forhjulslir.
"When you've been in cycling for a long time, you gain some experience. I've always said: 'I'll keep going until I don't think it's fun anymore'. Some things sound noble in the moment. The fact is that I continued riding my bike even after I thought it was fun."
He added: "It's strange, but also true. I've spent some time thinking about it and getting used to it."
After this year's Giro, Price-Pejtersen raced just ten racedays across June, July and August in Denmark before ending his season.
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- I have no sympathy for Ayuso or the situations he gets himself into. He was a traitor in the UAE team, he hated Pogi and never wanted to work for him. He always had excuses why he couldn't perform. No riders in the team liked his character and did not approve the kind of person he was on a deep, moral, or personal level. I just don't care about him. Ad acta.PogiSloFans11-11-2026
- Great response! I love the article also. Interesting to see which "Legends" will be covered. There are a few out there :-)
DareDevil11-11-2026 - This is one of the reasons why Ineos is failing, G can comment on his pod but why has he not attracted talent from the peloton to Ineos. He has lot of inside track. Also ratcliffe handling of Man United is also disastrous.abstractengineer11-11-2026
- Theirs a few on the team who may be able to step up/progress to Grand Tour wins but that'll come, not in '27 tho 🤷 - Roglic mayve appealed on a 2 yr for immediate results but other riders would be set aside and the existing riders wouldn't like that
leedorney11-11-2026 - Hey @santiagobenites, that's why @leedorney is wrong. He doesn't see the bigger picture.PogiSloFans11-11-2026
- the rot started in 2022 with Bernal's accident Signings- Just super helpers and non winners. Foss GC Leaders - Reliance on injured Bernal and retiring G Talents - On domestique duty dont learn how to win. Sprinters - No top Sprinter signed Tactics- Outdated Save the leader, trains. Just money badly spent even though there were opportunitiesabstractengineer11-11-2026
- Whole team is a mess. They don't have any really top tier "podium lock" GT riders, and they don't really have a solid classics block. Just a bunch of spare parts. I don't know why any rider would go for them either. Feels like old mate with the money is likely to pull out at any given moment, and that doesn't bode well for their ability to jack up their budget and say "let's buy half a dozen shit-hot talents to ride support/lead our team" - which is what they probably need to do to get competitive again.wrsty11-11-2026
- Pogi is a Goat. He has power numbers that are once in a century. Jonas is a once in a generation, He has power numbers 1 level lower than Pogi. Even if both are equal which they were before 2024, Pogi would have won on sprint bonuses. For Jonas to win he has to crack Pogi, which is impossible. Therefore Giro is a good option considering the TT in TDF. He cannot win but if something happens to Pogi , he should be still in a position to win the TDF, Giro or no Giro, because the others are a level below him.abstractengineer11-11-2026
- for what?frieders311-11-2026
- Blah blah blah!frieders311-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment