Mads Pedersen plans to end his professional cycling career after the 2029 World Championships in Copenhagen, bringing a likely conclusion to one of the most successful Danish careers of his generation.
The Lidl-Trek leader revealed his intended retirement date while speaking to TV 2 Denmark’s AftenTour programme during the 2026 Tour de France.
Pedersen stressed that the plan is not an immediate retirement announcement. He still expects to race for another three seasons and remains focused on winning the Tour’s green jersey and finally adding a Monument to his record.
“There is an end date to everything,” Pedersen told TV 2. “For me, it is the day when I can no longer compete for victories. Then I do not belong here any more.
“I would find it very difficult to change as a rider, where I go from being the leader and the one who won, to always having to help.”
The 2029 World Championships will carry additional meaning because they are being held in Copenhagen.
Pedersen became Denmark’s first elite men’s road world champion when he won in Yorkshire in 2019. Ending his career at a home World Championships would create a natural final target rather than allowing his time in the peloton to fade gradually.
“For us, it is a special place to stop a career,” he said. “The plan is that the World Championships in Copenhagen are where I would like to stop riding my bike.”
Photo Credit: A.S.O./Charly LópezGreen jersey remains the immediate target
Pedersen is currently racing the Tour de France, where he has already won stage 4 in Foix and moved into the lead of the points classification.
He is attempting to complete the set of points jerseys across cycling’s three Grand Tours, having already won the competition at the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España.
His ability to score on hilly stages as well as conventional sprint days has given him a realistic path towards Paris in green. The full strengths and risks of that campaign are covered in our analysis of whether Mads Pedersen can win the 2026 Tour de France green jersey.
Pedersen made clear that setting a possible retirement date has not reduced his ambition.
“People should not think I have made retirement plans and worked out what I will do afterwards,” he told TV 2.
“I am still in this bubble where it is about the green jersey and that bloody Monument I am missing.
“And when I have one Monument, I will want another one. That is how I will continue until the helmet goes on the shelf. There are three years left.”
A Monument remains the major gap
Pedersen has already built a career containing the world title, Gent-Wevelgem victories and stages at all three Grand Tours.
A Monument remains the clearest omission.
The Dane has finished on the podium at both Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, establishing himself as one of the most consistent cobbled Classics riders of his generation without yet taking one of cycling’s five biggest one-day races.
Paris-Roubaix has often appeared the closest match for his combination of endurance, resilience and finishing speed. He entered the 2026 edition among the leading contenders, with our Paris-Roubaix preview identifying it as the Monument most naturally suited to him.
Pedersen’s comments suggest that winning one would increase rather than satisfy his appetite.
The retirement date provides a limit, but not a winding-down period.
Family plans shape the decision
Pedersen also explained that the physical demands of professional cycling and his desire to begin a family with his wife had influenced the proposed timing.
“It takes a lot out of the body,” he said. “I also have a wife at home, and we need to have a family at some point.
“We are also reaching an age where it needs to happen. I have previously had teammates who found family life difficult because the father might not be at home.
“It hurt me to see that at the time, and I do not want to end up in that situation myself.”
Pedersen said he would rather leave the sport slightly earlier, while still capable of racing for victories, than extend his career after his competitive level has declined.
“I would rather stop my career a little earlier and start a family because life is long,” he said.
“I have achieved much of what I wanted in the sport, and I believe I will achieve the last couple of things before I stop.”
The racing is not finished
Pedersen still has the remainder of the 2026 Tour and three further Classics campaigns before the planned Copenhagen farewell.
His immediate priorities remain clear: protect the green jersey, win another Grand Tour stage and continue chasing the Monument that would complete his one-day record.
The proposed retirement date reveals how Pedersen wants to leave the sport.
Not after gradually moving from leader to helper, but while he still believes he can win the races that matter most.
Copenhagen may now provide the final finish line.
There is still plenty of racing before he reaches it.
