‘You won't win a Monument without me’ - Mads Pedersen reveals cheeky claim from Lidl-Trek wonderkid
Héctor Álvarez is certainly not lacking in confidence. The young Spaniard made that clear during a recent Lidl-Trek team gathering, where he jokingly told Mads Pedersen that the Dane would need him in the line-up if he wanted to win a Monument in 2027.
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Speaking on his Lang Distance podcast, Pedersen shared an amusing story from the team's camp, where Álvarez apparently made quite an impression on his more experienced teammates.
The conversation came up when Pedersen was asked to nominate someone for the podcast's light-hearted weekly awards. He picked Álvarez for both the entertaining moment and the blunder of the week, recalling an exchange during a team gathering.
"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.
The former world champion responded by joking that such a bold statement deserved a punishment.
"I told him: 'Héctor, that's going to cost you a glass of Jägermeister.' Just for sitting there being so cocky."
But Álvarez apparently wasn't finished. According to Pedersen, the Spaniard then turned his attention to new signing Filippo Ganna, questioning what the Italian was planning to win the following season.
"And you, what are you planning to win next year? Tre Valli? Bernocchi? Where are we at?" Pedersen recalled Álvarez asking.
That earned the youngster another round, with Pedersen laughing that it had turned into an expensive evening for his teammate.
Álvarez looking to make his mark in a stacked Lidl-Trek squad
Behind the playful exchange lies a serious ambition for Álvarez, who will step up from Lidl-Trek Future Racing to the WorldTour in 2027 after an impressive end to his 2026 campaign, including strong performances at the European Championships and Paris-Tours.
Speaking to MARCA in October, Lidl-Trek head of performance Josu Larrazabal praised the Spaniard's development and explained how the team intends to introduce him to racing at the highest level.
"He has been showing his potential for several years, and this year he has had an incredible end to the season," Larrazabal said. "He arrives in the WorldTour in the best possible way."
According to Larrazabal, Álvarez will have a mixed programme, combining opportunities to race for himself with supporting roles alongside established leaders such as Pedersen, Ganna and Jonathan Milan.
That balance will be particularly important at a team facing some difficult selection decisions in 2027.
"Managing egos requires direct, clear communication," Larrazabal told MARCA. "We are going to have to make decisions that will not always please everyone, but that is a welcome challenge."
The team's ambitions are equally clear, with Larrazabal identifying a Monument and a Grand Tour victory among Lidl-Trek's targets for 2027.
For Pedersen, a Monument victory would be particularly significant after another spring in which he came close without securing one of cycling's five biggest one-day races.
His 2026 Classics campaign was disrupted before it had properly begun, when he fractured his collarbone and wrist in a crash at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in February.
Despite making a remarkably swift recovery, the Dane finished fourth at Milan-Sanremo, fifth at the Tour of Flanders and seventh at Paris-Roubaix. Those results represented an impressive comeback, but his first Monument victory remained elusive.
With Lidl-Trek set to draw up their race programmes in mid-November, it remains to be seen whether Álvarez will get his wish and line up alongside Pedersen when the Dane makes another attempt to claim his first Monument victory in 2027.
