{"id":391617,"date":"2026-01-06T11:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T11:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/391617\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T11:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T11:29:10","slug":"mads-pedersen-on-modern-cycling-now-you-eat-like-a-mofo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/391617\/","title":{"rendered":"Mads Pedersen on modern cycling: \u2018Now you eat like a mofo\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Professional cycling has certainly changed dramatically over the last decade. Bikes, kit\u2013and nutrition. Former world champion Mads Pedersen used some, erm, colourful language to explain the shift, too, bless his heart. In an interview with Danish outlet Ekstra Bladet<\/a> from a media day with Lidl-Trek, the Dane reflected on how today\u2019s peloton is driven as much by spreadsheets and nutrition plans as by raw instinct and suffering.<\/p>\n

Time have changed since he was a rookie<\/p>\n

According to Pedersen, modern riders are no longer allowed to rely on feel alone. Everything is measured: power output, recovery, sleep\u2014and especially food.<\/p>\n

Where riders once survived on intuition and whatever they could stomach, today\u2019s approach is hyper-controlled.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven since I turned professional [in 2017], cycling has changed completely. When you needed to lose weight back then, you went out to train with a bit of water on the bike, an energy bar, maybe a banana and a coffee halfway. That was enough. Now you eat like a motherfucker all day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nutrition, he explains, is no longer just about avoiding hunger. Riders are expected to consume precise amounts of carbohydrates before, during, and after races, often even when the body resists it. The 30-year-old pro says that they are basically eating all the time. It\u2019s a system where performance margins are so small that skipping a gel can cost a result.<\/p>\n

Modern methods for the best<\/p>\n

\u201cCycling is completely different. You have to be so focused and serious. I never expected that, for sure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Still, Pedersen is not blindly romantic about the past. He acknowledges that modern methods make riders stronger and more consistent across long seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I don\u2019t think about it that much. I\u2019m happy with the situation I\u2019m in now. I\u2019m happy with the experiences I have from what it\u2019s strange to call old cycling. I\u2019m happy to be part of that journey,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On 2026<\/p>\n

At the same time, he questions whether cycling has lost some of its simplicity. The sport, he suggests, has become more professional but also more exhausting mentally. There is less room for improvisation, fewer decisions left to the rider\u2019s own judgment.<\/p>\n

He recently told TNT sports that his goals remain firm for 2026<\/a>\u2013to be the best, even with superstars like Mathieu van der Poel and the seemingly unbeatable Tadej Poga\u010dar in the way. \u201cI\u2019ve shown it\u2019s possible to beat Mathieu. Tadej is a different story, but he\u2019s a star of cycling \u2014 not just now, but forever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Danish superstar said he is aware that it\u2019s a helluva challenge, but he isn\u2019t giving up anytime soon. \u201cBelieve me, I try to find that last one per cent to beat these guys,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m the one working my ass off every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, he will continue to give it his all to get that last little bit to bridge the gap.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is arguing that I\u2019m not on the same level. You know, honestly, I think they should shut their mouths,\u201d Pedersen said. \u201cTry working the same amount of hours I do on the bike.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Professional cycling has certainly changed dramatically over the last decade. Bikes, kit\u2013and nutrition. Former world champion Mads Pedersen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,142937,635,50278,13633,395,82,1422],"class_list":["post-391617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-carbs","tag-cycling","tag-mads-pedersen","tag-mathieu-van-der-poel","tag-nutrition","tag-sports","tag-tadej-pogacar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}