Mads Pedersen reveals surprise retirement plan as family ambitions drive early exit

The Lidl-Trek leader would be 33 when the World Championships take place in the Danish capital. Speaking on TV 2’s AftenTour, Pedersen described the home event as the perfect setting for the final race of his career.

“For me, it would be a special place to finish my career,” Pedersen said. “The plan is to end my cycling career after the World Championships in Copenhagen.”

Pedersen has a lifetime contract with Lidl-Trek and has repeatedly made clear that he does not expect to represent another team. His retirement will therefore be determined by his own ambitions rather than the availability of a new deal.

The former world champion explained that he wants to leave the sport while he can still compete for major victories. Continuing as a domestique after spending much of his career as a team leader does not appeal to him.

“Everything comes to an end,” he said. “For me, that moment will come when I can no longer fight for victory. Then I do not belong here anymore.

“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.”

Despite already identifying an end date, Pedersen insisted that he is not approaching the final years of his career as a farewell period.

The Dane still has several major ambitions, including winning the Tour de France green jersey and finally adding a Monument to his palmarès. Pedersen has challenged for victory at races including Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, but has yet to win one of cycling’s five biggest one day events.

“People should not think that I have already planned my retirement and know what I am going to do afterwards,” Pedersen said. “I am still in a bubble where everything is about the green jersey and that damn Monument I am missing.”

Pedersen suggested that even a first Monument victory would not satisfy him for long.

“And when I have won one Monument, I will want another one,” he added.

His proposed retirement date is not only based on sporting considerations. Pedersen said that the strain professional cycling places on the body is one of the main reasons he does not intend to continue deep into his thirties.

The other is his desire to start a family with his wife and avoid the difficulties he has seen other riders experience while combining parenthood with life in the professional peloton.

“It takes its toll on the body,” Pedersen said. “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.”

The demands of the professional calendar keeps riders away from home for extended stretches, across training camps, stage races and altitude blocks. Pedersen admitted that seeing teammates struggle with those demands had affected the way he viewed his own future.

“I have had teammates in the past who had problems with their family life, perhaps because their father was not at home,” he said. “It hurt me to see that at the time, and I do not want to end up in the same situation.”

Pedersen would rather bring his career to an early conclusion than risk missing important moments with his future children.

“I would prefer to end my career a little earlier and start a family, because life is long,” he said.

By the time the World Championships arrive in Copenhagen, Pedersen believes he will have had enough opportunities to complete the remaining goals on his list.

“I have already achieved a lot of what I wanted to achieve in the sport,” he said. “And I believe I will achieve the final few things before I stop.”