Skjelmose reveals Mads Pedersen would not have quit Vuelta without Lidl-Trek call

Pedersen did not start Wednesday’s stage 11, bringing an early end to a race he had hoped would provide an important bridge towards the World Championships later this month.

For Skjelmose, the decision was difficult to watch but easy to understand.

“It wasn’t nice for me to see Mads suffer like that,” Skjelmose told TV 2 Sport about his teammate.

“If the team hadn’t told him to go home, he wouldn’t have done it. He would never give up himself. But it wasn’t worthy of him. He was riding so far below the level we know he is capable of that it wasn’t good for him to be here either.”

Pedersen had been battling health problems for several days. He revealed during the first rest day that he had been suffering from a sore throat, although there were initially signs that his condition might improve.

A second place behind Bryan Coquard on stage 8 suggested he was still capable of competing near the front, but the picture changed significantly on stage 10.

Pedersen was dropped with around 30 kilometres remaining and admitted afterwards that something was clearly wrong. He maintained that his underlying form was not the problem, but acknowledged that continuing the race would only make sense if his condition improved.

Tests carried out after the stage provided the answer. Lidl-Trek sports director Kim Andersen told TV 2 Sport that Pedersen was suffering from an infection rather than a virus and would require antibiotics.

“There is no point in continuing,” Andersen said. “There was something in his body, because his training for the Vuelta had been good."

“It had already started a few days before he came here with a cold. You didn’t think it was anything worse than that. But the tests we carried out yesterday showed that it is not a virus, but an infection, so he needs antibiotics.”

The diagnosis changed the calculation for a rider who had initially been determined to continue.

Even after struggling on stage 10, Pedersen said he still believed his condition could turn around and viewed the remaining stages as useful preparation for the World Championships in Montreal on September 27.

Less than 24 hours later, Lidl-Trek decided recovery had to take priority.

Skjelmose believes that may ultimately work in Pedersen’s favour. With the Vuelta no longer part of his programme, the former world champion can focus fully on recovering before building towards one of his biggest remaining objectives of the season.

“Mads really believes in the Worlds,” Skjelmose said. “Even though it’s hard, I think he can do really well."

“Then we’ll have to see whether Tadej [Pogačar] competes. I believe Mads can fight for the medals, and I know that’s also one of the reasons why he is stopping here.”

Denmark national coach Michael Mørkøv was equally supportive of the decision.

Mørkøv had been in regular contact with Pedersen during the Vuelta and said the 2026 Tour de France points classification winner had been hoping to ride through the illness, something he has managed on other occasions.

“Mads is a big star, so it would have been strange if the team had forced him to continue,” Mørkøv told Feltet.

“I’ve been speaking with Mads and he says himself that he came into the race on the wrong foot because of illness and then hoped things would turn around.

“That has happened for him before. Mads is known as a rider who can get through almost anything, and he has enormous resilience.”

Pedersen’s departure ends a difficult Vuelta after a season in which he had already fought back from a major setback.

He fractured his collarbone and wrist on his first race day of 2026 at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, but recovered to finish fourth at Milan-Sanremo, fifth at the Tour of Flanders and seventh at Paris-Roubaix.

He then won the green jersey at the Tour de France, completing his set of points classification victories across all three Grand Tours.

The Vuelta never developed in the same way. Illness prevented Pedersen from consistently reaching his usual level, and once the cause of his problems became clear, Lidl-Trek decided there was little to gain from asking him to fight through another two weeks.