Mads Pedersen returns to the Tour in 2026 with a clear focus on completing his set

“Winning as much as possible,” replied Pedersen when asked what his ambitions for 2026 are. “It’s pretty clear that I am still hunting for that monument, so that’s a big goal for sure… Hopefully, this monument will come in the pocket, and then it will still be a goal to win the green jersey in the Tour."

Pedersen missed out on the Tour in 2025 to fit the ambitions of the team in the sprints with Jonathan Milan. It was a bold decision by the team as it was the first time that the former World Champion had missed an edition of the Tour since making his debut in 2020, picking up two stage wins along the way.

Ultimately, things worked out well, with Milan winning two stages and the green jersey in his debut at the race. Meanwhile, it was a great season for Pedersen, who enjoyed a spell in the pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia, taking four stage wins along the way, and the points classification, as well as the same classification and another stage win at the Vuelta a España later in the season.

Pedersen admitted that whilst he would have liked to ride the Tour last season, he understood Lidl-Trek’s rationale and was willing to be a team player and make compromises to the benefit of his teammates.

The roles will be reversed in 2026, with Pedersen set to return to the Tour and Milan heading back to the Giro as confirmed on Friday. “For sure,” said Pedersen when asked whether he thought Milan would want to do the Tour again next season. “That’s his problem,” Pedersen joked about the Italian having to compromise just like the Dane had done last season.

“The team is that big now that I accepted this year, that I should not do the Tour, because there were other plans, and now it's him [Milan] who is accepting that he's not going to the Tour and doing something else because we have goals as a team to achieve, and every rider also needs to be happy," said Pedersen. 

“Now, I'm totally ok with that, like this year when the team said, ‘okay, we'll bring [Milan] to the Tour.' I also understood the message. Two stage wins and the green too [for Milan], it was the smart decision. And I think it was a smart decision to bring me to the Giro and the Vuelta.”

Lidl-Trek confirmed that Milan will head to the Giro d’Italia alongside Giulio Ciccone, who crashed out twelve months ago. Meanwhile, Thibau Nys is set to make his debut at the Italian Grand Tour, having embarked on his first Tour de France in the summer. Milan has a very strong track record at his home Grand Tour, winning four stages and the points classification twice across the 2023 and 2024 editions.

Pedersen explained the difficulties of both he and Milan racing the Tour, particularly in terms of the sprints.

“It's a clear goal I've had for many years to win the green jersey, and it's also pretty clear that trying to win the green jersey and bringing Jonny, it's not easy, because then he's gaining a lot of points and I have to sprint against him and then we look like idiots because he's sprinting with his train there and I'm there and we also have [Juan] Ayuso now. You see, that's not going to work.”

Alongside Pedersen, new signing Juan Ayuso will also spearhead Lidl-Trek at the Tour de France as the team’s GC leader, alongside Mattias Skjelmose, who supports the Spaniard in the mountains.