Mads Pedersen has abandoned the 2026 Vuelta a España, with the Lidl-Trek rider not taking the start of Stage 11 from Cartagena to Lorca on Wednesday after struggling with illness during the opening half of the race.
The former world champion had already raised doubts over whether he would continue after a difficult Stage 10 to Elche de la Sierra, where he was dropped before the finale and eventually finished fifth from last.
Lidl-Trek confirmed the decision on Wednesday morning.
“Unfortunately, Mads Pedersen will not take the start of today’s stage 11 of La Vuelta,” the team said. “After battling illness over the past few days, Mads will now focus on making a full recovery before turning his attention to his remaining targets this season.”
Pedersen’s Vuelta never reached its expected level
Pedersen arrived in Spain after an outstanding Tour de France in which he won the green jersey following one of the most consistent points campaigns of his career.
The Vuelta was very different.
There were occasional signs of the rider expected before the start, most notably when he finished second behind Bryan Coquard on Stage 8 in Xeraco, but Pedersen never produced the sustained run of results required to challenge Wout van Aert in the points classification.
His struggles became increasingly obvious on Tuesday. Stage 10 contained almost 3,000 metres of climbing but was still the type of difficult transitional day a healthy Pedersen would normally expect to survive. Instead, he was distanced well before the finish.
Afterwards he acknowledged that something was wrong despite believing his underlying form was good enough, and Lidl-Trek have now confirmed illness was behind the drop in performance.
Pedersen misses one of his best remaining stage opportunities
The timing of the withdrawal means Pedersen misses a stage that would ordinarily have suited him extremely well.
The Stage 11 route from Cartagena to Lorca contains only one categorised climb, the Alto de Aledo at 9.5km and 4.2%, before a 32km run towards the finish.
For Pedersen at full strength, it would have been one of his clearest remaining opportunities.
His absence strengthens the position of Matthew Brennan, Jordi Meeus and Coquard, while Thibau Nys becomes Lidl-Trek’s more obvious option on selective finishes.
World Championships now become the priority
Pedersen will now focus on recovering ahead of the World Championships in Montréal later this month.
The elite men’s road race takes place on 27 September, leaving him more than three weeks to recover and rebuild after leaving Spain.
That makes withdrawing now a logical decision. Continuing through another 11 Vuelta stages while ill would offer little value if the race was originally intended to help build towards Montréal.
Lidl-Trek still have an important Vuelta objective through Mattias Skjelmose, who sits sixth overall at 3:55 behind race leader Enric Mas. The wider GC battle after Stage 9 remains finely balanced as the race heads towards Thursday’s summit finish at Calar Alto.
Pedersen’s part in it, though, is finished after ten stages.
The Vuelta never produced the performances expected after his Tour de France green jersey, and rather than force his way through the second half of the race below full health, Pedersen will now recover with Montréal becoming the next major target.
