Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) has identified the 2029 UCI Road World Championships in Copenhagen as the possible final race of his professional career, although he stressed that he is not actively considering retirement.
Speaking on TV 2’s *AftenTour* on Wednesday, July 15, Pedersen initially said he knew when he wanted his career to end without naming a year. The 30-year-old then pointed to the home World Championships, when he would be 33.
“That is the plan; that is where I would like to stop cycling. There is no reason to keep it to myself,” Pedersen said. “For us, it is a special place to end your career. The plan is for the World Championships in Copenhagen to be where I would like to stop cycling.”
Pedersen described 2029 as a preferred endpoint, not a fixed retirement announcement. He has made no plans for his life after racing and said the prospect of stopping is not occupying his thoughts during the current Tour de France.
“Personally, I think it would be bloody awesome to finish on home soil at the World Championships in Copenhagen,” he said. “It would be absolutely incredible for me, and I hope it will be a huge celebration.”
Green jersey and Monument ambitions remain
Pedersen said he still wants to win the Tour’s green jersey and secure the Monument victory missing from his palmarès. The former world champion has won stages at the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, but none of cycling’s five leading one-day Classics.
His comments came while he was wearing the points jersey at the 2026 Tour. Pedersen finished 11th on stage 11, earning 16 points as Søren Wærenskjold won a bunch sprint completed at an average speed of 50.91km/h – the fastest non-time trial stage in Tour de France history. Biniam Girmay and Jasper Philipsen reduced Pedersen’s advantage in the competition.
In May 2025, TV 2 reported that he had signed a contract keeping him at Lidl-Trek until the end of his career. He has raced for the organisation since 2017.
Denmark was awarded the 2029 championships at the UCI Congress in Zürich in September 2024. Under the planned event programme, Copenhagen will host the road-race finishes, with starts in Roskilde and Helsingør. Aarhus is due to stage the time trials.
Pedersen is still among the riders in the mix for the biggest Classics. In March 2026 he took fourth at Milan-San Remo, coming there six weeks after a crash at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana left him with a broken wrist and collarbone.
Cover image credit: Thomas Maheux
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