‘What we do is not healthy’ - Why Mads Pedersen does not want his children to become cyclists
Mads Pedersen has built his career on suffering, but even he admits professional cycling pushes the body too far. In a candid conversation with Matt Stephens, the Dane reflects on racing the spring Classics after a broken wrist and collarbone, the physical price of elite sport, and why he would not want the same life for his children.
Mads Pedersen does not need long to choose the race that defines him. It is not the Tour of Flanders, where he has finished second, but Paris Roubaix.
“For me, it is just Roubaix,” Pedersen tells Matt Stephens during the Sigma Sports Cafe Ride. “It is so extreme. There are no hills. It is the cobbles that make the decision.”
That unpredictability is exactly what draws him back. Roubaix is not simply a test of strength. Riders must judge tyre pressure, protect their equipment and somehow stay upright while racing across some of the most violent roads in professional cycling.
“You have to think about so much more than just riding fast from A to B,” Pedersen says. “You also have to make your equipment last.”
He knows what it feels like to win inside the Roubaix velodrome. Pedersen took the junior title in 2013, but the full size cobblestone is still missing from his collection.
“It would be nice to have the big cobblestone next to the small one,” he says. “I will keep fighting and I will keep dreaming about this race until the day I retire.”
That pursuit has already begun again. Pedersen says he is thinking about new wheels, different spokes and further technical improvements for next year. No detail is too small when the goal is victory in what he calls “the most extreme race on the calendar”.
Racing against the clock
Pedersen’s presence in the 2025 Classics was remarkable in itself. A heavy crash at the Tour of Valencia left him with a broken wrist and collarbone. Just two weeks after surgery, he was back riding on the road.
“My wrist is still not as it should be,” he admits. “We pushed the limits a lot. Of course, that makes the healing process slower, but we were willing to take the risk for the Classics.”
The decision came from a clear awareness that opportunities at the highest level are limited.
“I am turning 31 this year. I do not have five more chances to do this. I could not let it go. I had to give it a try.”
Pedersen is honest about his expectations. Simply returning to the peloton was never enough.
“I am not killing myself on training rides to be fifth in Flanders,” he says. “I am trying to win Monuments.”
The results did not completely satisfy him, but the wider context changed his perspective. His performance at Milan San Remo, in particular, exceeded anything he and his team had expected so soon after the crash.
‘Pogacar is in a different league’
During the ride, the conversation turns to the extraordinary level of Tadej Pogacar. Pedersen experienced it at close range on the cobbles.
“I did 750 watts on the cobbles, on the flat,” he says. “I thought: no way this is possible. Tadej is on a different level. A different league.”
Yet Pedersen does not resent racing in the same generation as Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert. Their presence makes every victory more valuable.
“People ask me if I hate riding at the same time as Tadej,” he says. “No. The day I hopefully beat him in a Monument, it will be even nicer.”
The cost of professional cycling
Behind Pedersen’s ambition lies a more uncomfortable truth. He loves cycling, but he is deeply aware of what professional sport does to the body.
“Sport is healthy until a certain point,” he says. “After that, it starts to become unhealthy. What we do in professional sport is not healthy.”
For that reason, he would not encourage his own children to become professional cyclists.
“Would I wish for my kids to be professional cyclists? Absolutely not,” he says. “I would show them all the bad things first, so maybe they would choose something else.”
His crash made those sacrifices painfully real. Pedersen’s brother Martin cleaned his wounds, helped him through daily life and, just two weeks later, pushed him hard during training in Mallorca.
“That is something you can only do with a brother,” Pedersen says. “If it had been a teammate, I would have punched him in the face.”
It is a revealing contrast. Away from racing, Pedersen is thoughtful about the damage the sport can cause. Once a number is pinned to his jersey, compromise disappears.
Paris Roubaix remains the dream.
“To win the most extreme race on the calendar,” he says, “that would be something special.”
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