"You're not winning a Monument this year unless I'm on the team" - Can Spanish wonderkid be Mads Pedersen's key for the classics?
Cycling
Mads Pedersen is one the best classics riders in this current generation but does not yet have a monument victory to his name. Heading into the 2027 season, he will have a new teammate, who has joked to be the key behind his future luck on the cobbles.
Pedersen has become World Champion in 2019 back when he was still a rider on the rise. His true ability on the cobbled classics has surfaced more over recent years, with his consistency being linked to a strong sprint and incredible capacity to tackle long-distance races.
At the time being, Pedersen has an incredibly run, in which he has finished in the Top10 on 13 of his last 15 monument appearances. All of these have been achieved at Milano-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix - and amongst them are four podium positions.
But Pedersen has been having to contest monument with riders such as Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel, generational classics specialists that rarely skip a beat. When it does rarely happen, Wout Van Aert is often in the same position as Pedersen when it comes to taking the opportunnity - as happened at Paris-Roubaix this year. Heading into 2027, Pedersen continues to aim for a monument win.
Mads Pedersen continues to be a big card to win Paris-Roubaix
Héctor Alvaréz, Mads Pedersen's new right-hand man?
Experience is key on the cobbled classics, and so it is a tough ask for a first-year professional. But if there is one rider capable of making the rounds this next spring as a neo-pro, Héctor Alvaréz has very high chances of being the one.
Pedersen, on the Lang Distance podcast, has shared a story in which the Spaniard has already put himself forward as the Dane's saviour. "Héctor, being as cocky as he is, which is also pretty funny, says: 'Mads, you're not winning a Monument this year unless I'm on the team'," Pedersen recalled.
"I told him: 'Héctor, that's going to cost you a glass of Jägermeister'. Just for sitting there being so cocky."
Héctor Alvaréz is Lidl-Trek's newest classics weapon
The 19-year old is turning pro with the German team this upcoming month of January, but he has already raced amongst the elites throughout his two-year stint at Lidl-Trek. The two raced together at the Boucles de la Mayenne earlier this year, and Alvaréz was quick to fall on Pedersen's good grace.
But on the road, he has shown even more. He was fifth at this year's under-23 Paris-Roubaix (and will team up with Albert Philipsen and Jakob Söderqvist, first and second the previous years), but his late-season push saw him at an astounding level.
A classics specialist, Alvaréz was second at the under-23 World Championships and third at the time trial event - which left him very disappointed at the time, even if he had shown his talent to the fullest.
But at the European Championships the Spaniard truly showed his colours, winning both road race and time trials in Slovenia, with stellar performances that put his versatility on full display. Alvaréz finished his season with yet another win at the under-23 Paris-Tours only days later, further demonstrating his ability to race strongly on the northern classics.
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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