{"id":224055,"date":"2025-10-25T04:56:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T04:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/224055\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T04:56:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T04:56:09","slug":"hes-been-the-boss-of-that-team-for-years-experts-ponder-if-lidl-treks-gc-ambitions-might-force-mads-pedersen-out-of-tour-de-france-for-second-year-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/224055\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHe\u2019s been the boss of that team for years\u201d \u2014 Experts ponder if Lidl-Trek\u2019s GC ambitions might force Mads Pedersen out of Tour de France for second year running in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\u201cThe route could count against him\u201dTV2 analyst and former pro rider Christian Moberg believes that Lidl-Trek may once again prefer Jonathan Milan<\/a>, who won the green jersey and two stages at this year\u2019s Tour de France, over Pedersen next summer. \u201cMilan is a more traditional sprinter who needs a completely flat stage,\u201d Moberg explained. \u201cThat could work slightly against the chances of seeing Mads Pedersen at the Tour. We don\u2019t have the full picture yet, but it already looks like those sprint stages are very much for the pure sprinters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moberg pointed out that the stages where Pedersen truly excels tend to feature climbs and crosswinds \u2014 conditions where the Dane\u2019s endurance and power can outlast others. \u201cOn the stages where we\u2019ve seen Mads among the best in the world in the past, there have usually been climbs \u2014 where he can put others under pressure and still finish it off,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Yet even Pedersen\u2019s versatility may not be enough this time. Lidl-Trek have brought in fresh firepower for 2026, signing GC hopeful Juan Ayuso<\/a> from UAE Team Emirates – XRG \u2014 a move that could shift the team\u2019s focus toward the overall classification rather than hunting sprint victories.\u201cOthers are coming to the fore now\u201d<\/p>\n

Pedersen\u2019s influence within Lidl-Trek has long been undisputed. As Moberg notes, \u201cHe\u2019s been the boss of that team for years, and we\u2019ve all called him that. But there are others coming to the fore now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those \u201cothers\u201d include Milan and Ayuso, two riders whose ambitions might squeeze Pedersen out of a guaranteed Tour spot for the second consecutive season \u2014 a bitter pill given his successes elsewhere. The Dane claimed the points jersey at both the Giro d\u2019Italia and Vuelta a Espana this year, alongside multiple stage victories, underlining his consistency and versatility across all terrains.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll do everything to make the team\u201dFellow TV2 expert Lars Bak<\/a>, himself an eight-time Tour de France competitor, sees no sign that Pedersen\u2019s hunger has faded. He believes the 29-year-old will do everything possible to earn his Tour return \u2014 even if team politics make the path difficult. \u201cHe\u2019ll do everything he can to be part of next year\u2019s Tour team,\u201d Bak said. \u201cTeams are already reviewing everything now, and it\u2019s really in December when the first seeds are planted for who will ride which races.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, Pedersen\u2019s fate rests in the hands of Lidl-Trek\u2019s management \u2014 and their strategic direction for 2026. With Milan\u2019s raw sprinting power, Ayuso\u2019s GC potential, and Pedersen\u2019s proven all-round ability, the team faces a balancing act between stage wins, classification ambitions, and internal hierarchy.<\/p>\n

Whether \u201cthe boss\u201d makes his return to the Tour de France next July remains one of the most intriguing selection battles of the winter.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThe route could count against him\u201dTV2 analyst and former pro rider Christian Moberg believes that Lidl-Trek may…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-224055","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}