Original subtitles

Are you satisfied with your season so far?

No, not really.

Why?

You know, the start went super. It was amazing.

And also, to win in Ghent was also amazing,

especially the way we rode as a team and how the victory was done.

Then the crash happened.

In Flanders, I raced with my head up my ---.

In Roubaix, I was beaten by a better guy.

But then the Tour, you know, just everything has gone like this.

Worked for months to be ready,

sacrificed a lot and then everything is gone after, what, seven days.

Do you ever feel that...

-It's not worth it? -Yes.

Yes. After that crash, it can stop...

it can end like this, you know, within 20 seconds.

All the work you have done for, like, months,

best shape of your life,

everything is just perfect, it's gone.

What about the race on Saturday, the Olympics?

Would a good result there save what happened in the tour?

Gold medal, yes.

-Only gold that counts? -Yes.

Until now, I have everything else.

It's Pedersen who is going for it. And now you can see Pedersen.

Pedersen is behind. He is on fire at the minute.

But I'm still missing the last bits of the puzzle.

Here we go! Time to pick up.

Mads Pedersen has been so brave in this race.

Oh, Mads Pedersen has done it for Denmark!

Mads Pedersen, he's a world champion!

Mads Pedersen is now a Tour winner, a Vuelta winner,

and a Giro d'Italia stage winner as well.

It's pretty simple.

I want to win a Monument before my career is over.

First, I took a week off the bike

just to do something else and relax a bit,

and eat a pizza, and have a normal life

without looking at the bike.

But, quite fast, it's just getting work again,

you can't stop for four weeks.

So, after six, seven days, I started to ride the bike again.

The goal after Roubaix is, for sure, Tour de France and Olympics.

And I see no problem that Mads has a goal in the Tour

and, at the same time, he can keep the level for the Olympics.

What fits best with the route you are doing?

I'll control that. We have to come back to here.

-We have to go back? -I need to get the headwind here.

-Then we take 20 minutes easy. -Okay.

Then, in-between the 40/20 intervals

you keep it up for ten minutes.

It's ten minutes full and then ten minutes break.

A few days before Paris-Roubaix, then he starts asking me,

"I see here that... that I'm not allowed

to go on the bike for a whole week.

Is it okay if I do a ride on Saturday?"

So, that is already cleared.

So he's always thinking ahead,

and when we are sitting there, like a few days before Paris-Roubaix,

then we can already start discussing

what should be the goal of my bodyweight for the Tour de France.

One of my favorite sessions,

low cadence work in the beginning and then speed work behind the motor.

And he has to do them with like 450-460.

Not so easy if you don't have climbs, but he is like in a 56/10.

Don't try this at home.

It's not good for your knees to do 450-460,

sometimes 470 in rpm 50-60.

Quite fast.

You are back on either a training camp or Dauphine.

Vlasov and Roglic moving up on the inside,

and there is Mads Pedersen being pointed out.

First time where we should start the sprint train

with Ryan, Alex and me.

First time on the new Madone Generation 8.

Also moving up on the left, as we look at it,

"55" on his back. it's Mads Pedersen,

South African champion in front of him,

Luxembourg national champion there, and this is Tom Skjiuijns.

First day is a sprint.

The Latvian starts moving up on the left,

putting Mads Pedersen into position.

Well, it's Alex Kirsten, Luxembourg road race champion on the front.

It's Gibbons is in second, Pedersen in third here.

About 600 meters to go now, Rob.

One of the big-name sprinters being led out.

Here comes Ryan Gibbons, trying to put Mads Pedersen into position.

Behind him and waiting on the wheel is Sam Bennett,

who was back to victorious form the other week,

also in northern France.

There's Fred Wright in the mix.

Page is there as well, Venturni in the red.

They turn the corner, the sprint is launched, going for it.

Petersen straight to the line,

trying to come around, but it's Mads Petersen who takes it.

Mads Pedersen has the victory.

And then we nailed it. Like, unbelievable good.

Alex was outstanding controlling the guys,

and Ryan, he just performed.

That was the exact reason why the team signed with Ryan,

it was to get this.

I won the stage, I came in yellow.

As a lead out rider, you're there right in the death,

you're there, you're seeing that finish line as well.

You're giving your all, you're risking it as well,

you're taking the same kind of chances.

Then, to see it pay off with your sprinter delivering and winning

putting their hands up in the air, there's no greater feeling.

Lovely way to start racing again.

Then we said: okay, after Dauphiné, I come,

and then we bring his father, I'm in the car.

Even if the training is more or less the same,

I think the quality goes up five percent,

just because I'm there pushing him, motivating.

For today's training, on the menu we have six hours

and the main goal is to do two hours motor pace.

So in a few hours, we are going to meet his father.

I'm there all the time and I can push him a little bit extra there,

and then we have some nice laughs and it's like one big happy family.

They're giving you a little bit extra motivation and support.

Him and Mattias, I think they can pump each other up.

Like, "This is crazy. These numbers are crazy."

And Mattias, "You can go even harder."

And my dad is like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's do that."

It's this whole atmosphere that he's enjoying.

I enjoy to see him doing this.

Today, you just have to go fast!

I love that. That's proper junior training.

There are many moments where it means a lot.

We start to talk about the World Championships.

That's really big, but, in the end, it's just sport.

What makes me proud is when

he gives me a big hug and tells me he loves me,

because that's a sign that I've done something right.

-This is going to hurt. -Are you going to win today, Claus?

I always win. There is no doubt about that.

I win every single time.

If I don't win, I will straightaway buy a bigger one.

End of discussion.

Turn it on!

Which way are we going? That would be nice to know.

From here, go to Soderup, then to Tingerup,

then to Skjoldenæsholm, after to Haraldsted,

we take a right at the church in Haraldsted,

then to Allindelille, so not to the right towards Skee, you go straight.

Then, when we come to Allindelille, you take a left turn.

And then we take the tiny road up towards Bogerup, or what it's called,

and then we go to the left. After that we come down to Taastrup.

We come out on the Hvalsø-road.

We go left-right, over the Hvalsø-road.

We arrive to Taastrup and take a right towards Nørre Vallenderød.

That part you know.

In Nørre Vallenderød we go right-left towards Tjørnede,

straight in Tjørnede and up over the hill.

Either we take one more lap or we finish it there.

Please repeat it again. I didn't quite get it.

And remember three long sprints.

Three long sprints. I will control those ones.

-Is it all out or? -All out!

----, man. Then wait a second...

Of course, I'm happy that he is doing it,

but what really makes me happy is to see him

being happy of being a part of this project.

I remember when I was here the first time

and we did this loop that Mads said that he had done with his father,

like, in the last ten years, and it looks so smooth.

I never saw a pair,

a couple doing such impressive motor pacing.

It's like they are made for each other, together with this road.

It's nice when he's around, also,

because then he can micro-adjust the trainings

to exactly my feelings, also.

Sometimes, I think that's really nice

to have this in these fine-tuning stages of training.

It was nice to see him,

especially I saw that I could see his muscles on the calves.

It means he is getting in good shape

and his body weight is also lower than it was in the Classics.

When the temperature is a bit higher

then we can also... we can also aim a little bit lower.

Going for the Tour, then we aim for like 76, 76.5

and we are now on a good way for that.

It looks really good.

We are now doing 70-75 k/ph.

I think he's prepared to do, now, a sprint.

He is supposed to do four times 15-second sprints

divided over these two hours.

-What motivates you? -I have no idea, man.

There, I have no idea.

I know I do it because Matthias tells me to do this.

And Mattias believes this is the right

and the perfect preparation for the next.

And, for me, Matthias is the best

or one of the best coaches in the world.

So, when he tells me this is what we have to do,

I believe in him and I believe

what you're saying is the right thing to do.

I know, if I do what he tells me,

I'm able to perform and aim for the big goals.

- That was nasty! -Yeah, I understand.

I told Mads, it hurts his old man to see him suffering like that.

-It was just... but still it's okay. -This is good.

It looked difficult to have full power in the last sprint?

I had nothing. There was nothing left. 1200 watts, forget this.

Oh, man, the first 15 minutes were painful.

-It was really strong! -It was fine.

Doing, like, hard low cadence intervals, 40-20s,

with between 450 and 500 watts, which is like huge numbers.

It's flat here, you have to go 56/10 and headwind

and they try to push up that.

It's not many in the world that can do that, I can tell you.

Why do I do this to myself?

In that moment, you regret it 15 times in those 15 minutes, minimum.

Claus! Thanks for a good job. That I can't.

Why not? You have to learn it.

I don't even have a driving license.

Then they don't have anything to take from you!

Then he was motor pacing with, like, 430 watts in normalized power.

And if you go behind a moto, 60 kmph,

the power is not so high.

So then, to be able to still do around 400,

is really, really something special.

Super perfect.

I am now smiling extra because it was five super-nice hours.

-430 normalized power in pace! -I think that's all right.

-How much, 400 what? -430 watts.

We can do it more, we can push harder,

because I feel my body, he can't, he can only read the numbers.

I'm doing plus 400 watts all the time.

I love that he wants to push the limits, also.

It's all the time plus-400 watts.

Up over the hills plus-600 watts every time.

It was nice to be pushed, the last big push before the nationals

because one of the goals for this season was to do nationals.

-Anthony, do we have the best? -No.

Do you want me or Sebastian on the radio?

-You. -Okay, that's me.

Normally, I get a bit too excited or a bit too nervous for races.

So when he is talking on the radio, it's a bit more calming.

Okay, brother. Good start.

Here we go, Martin. Now you just find the position.

Now, you are riding super fast, while you are sitting like a princess.

If I would do a national TT now, and Martin wouldn't,

I would also like to have him on the radio.

To experience it, to see how it is.

Now it hurts! It's now we live up to Pedersen.

It's now you become a proper Pedersen. It's today!

Martin's engine is built like mine,

so I know exactly the moments he starts to suffer.

So, I think, for him, it's nice

to have someone that know him that well, performance wise.

To guide him through this. And I just like to talk ----, also.

It's now we make the difference!

That's something a Pedersen can, he can dig deep!

It's now you and me become team mates.

It's now you are doing it. Come on, Martin!

This is you doing a lead-out to a World Championships,

it's you and me together.

I'm on your wheel, I expect you to race fast.

There you go! Now it's just a full sprint.

I want you out of the saddle. Everything you have left.

Yeah, that's good!

Only 500 meters to the finish line.

I just want to see a full sprint from now on!

Full sprint with everything you have left!

This Martin, this is a fantastic time!

-That's the way, man! -Now that's what I'm talking about!

That's really an easy job, huh?

I seriously need the toilet now.

How is he as a big brother?

He's a typical big brother, like everyone else.

He never agrees with me, he's always like,

"You have to do this in a different way, or this in a different way."

Of course, we also have some of the same hobbies,

so as a big brother he's pretty much the same as everyone else I think.

I'm proud of him.

Yeah, Nationals isn't that easy,

and, especially, this course in Herning, was...

It's hard to explain, because I don't want to sit here and complain

and say that people are not riding their own race and so on.

But it's just damn hard to win Nationals,

even if you have a strong team.

Mads wants to win, I also want to win.

I like Dannebrog. It would be nice.

And he tried now many times to get it back.

But he also has good teammates.

And usually, at this time of the season, going into the Tour,

he is always in super shape going to the Nationals.

Which also means that everybody is looking at him.

So it's difficult, it's really difficult for him to win.

Oh, it's going to be a tough and tight sprint!

It's unofficial but I think Rasmus, Søjberg, Pedersen got it.

Then the Nationals was gone, again.

But it's just a hard race to win.

It was nice to see Rasmus winning.

Then he just showed that he's a new star in Danish cycling.

It's nice to see the national jersey on his shoulders.

I'm just happy about the way we raced and, as I said,

it's a pity we don't get home the result that we hoped for.

We will keep trying to win the Nationals.

But I'm there. I will come back in '25.

-See you, brother. -See you.

Look at these scenes.

It's the first time we've had a Grand Depart in Italy,

with the greatest bicycle race on Earth, Tour de France.

I want to win a stage. It would be nice to continue that

from the past two years and then try to win the green jersey.

An American team directly from the United States, Lidl-Trek.

Very obvious focus for them

with Mads Pedersen, the 2019 World Champion.

If you win one stage, then it's already done.

But also knowing him and the team,

it would be nice to try and reach out for him a little bit more.

And for me, I've never seen him better.

The weight he has, the dedication you could see in his face,

he was a bit slimmer than he was in the Classics.

It's a drag to the line,

suddenly Pedersen finding himself in a superb position.

But De lie is on his case! Here comes the Belgian champion.

Gaviria is also in the frame here, Biniam Girmay is on the barriers.

He'll spear through and through to the line.

Oh, Bini has done it!

It went okay in the beginning. We made a few mistakes.

All of us, me, Ryan and Jasper, all made mistakes here and there.

But in general, it was okay.

Still kept within the points of the green jersey.

From just around 175 meters to go it's a sprint of anticipation.

Go before you can see it, get the jump on the rest.

Marijn van de Berg is there as well.

Now they'll start to see the finish line.

It's slightly uphill...

So I start my sprint from behind, on the left side,

start to move and then...

...suddenly, two riders, they come from right to left,

like two fireballs.

He's in the front here.

Cavendish is there, there is a crash behind.

Mark Cavendish, this is history!

I was the guy who didn't have space anymore.

But I still hit the barrier.

To crash in a sprint, it's normally pretty painful.

-Did Mads go down? -Yeah, he went down.

At that moment, I don't realize what else is going on,

you know, at that moment, I have to just get through everything.

He came on the left, then they went all to the left of the barriers.

And someone hit him. He went into the barrier.

And then he was super lucky, someone behind him bunny hopped him.

Maybe he touched him, but I hope not.

-Oh, I see it. I just watched it. -He bunny hopped him, no?

It's not the best quality. Not the best, but you'll all see it.

-Pretty close to the line? -Yeah.

-It's here. -There. Zip!

Lucky for me, I would say... that Cav won the stage.

All the attention went that way.

So, yeah. We believed I would survive.

That's racing. Yeah, we are looking forward now

and, hopefully, the injuries will get better day by day.

Then Kimi came to me,

"I haven't seen something that ugly for a long time.

Think about the season, it's still long, the Tour is not everything,

and you still have big goals for the rest of the year."

There is no bike belonging to Mads Pedersen

who becomes the third rider to have to leave this race.

You know that feeling when someone tells you,

"I would do like this, but it's your decision."

You know that feeling, it's like, okay,

"Yeah, I know what time it is, I have to stop."

So I accepted it, it was not easy.

It was one of the few times where...

...it was hard to say the words without your voice cracking a bit.

Now they have all the opportunities in the world.

Now I'm not here to handcuff them for the rest of the race.

Now they need to grab every opportunity they can.

I had the feeling I disappointed them by not continuing.

Because I know how much it means for them also to achieve these goals.

With the Olympics ahead, I have to focus on that.

I'm dreaming of winning Olympics

and if I continue here just to finish every day,

I don't think that's the best preparation for Olympics.

I have never seen him better.

And this is both mentally, physically, also his weight.

So power to weight was super.

And that's why it was also so hard

to see him crash out, because...

I was, like, devastated.

How did you react seeing his crash?

I watched the stage sitting on the sofa,

and my boy, he's 9 years old, he was walking around in the apartment

and Mads went down

and I was screaming so loud, he almost started to cry.

Because he thought that it was really, really, really bad

when I was screaming like that.

That was the only thing that I was afraid of, actually.

I texted him straightaway that,

no matter which condition he will arrive in,

we're gonna support him 100%.

I wanted him to be sure. I don't think he was doubting it,

but I wanted him to be sure that,

no matter what, we're going to ride 100% for him.

He says he's ready, so I trust him.

Do you ever feel that...

-It's not worth it? -Yeah.

Yes. After that crash, I just quit.

I don't want to do this anymore. It's too much work for nothing.

It can stop... It can end like this, you know, within 20 seconds.

All the work you have done for months, best shape of your life,

everything is just perfect, it's gone.

On the other hand, nothing in life is easy,

and you have to keep fighting and keep working.

You are riding with black shoes today?

I have told you: every time I've got a white pair, I crash with them.

You will ride with the black ones on Saturday?

No, no. You can't race with black shoes.

Yes, the crash happened, but the shape is not gone.

Okay, we take one step back,

but I'm pretty sure now we took five forward to this race.

So in the end, I don't think it's too bad what happened.

But then he called me.

He said that he had a fracture and he was going home.

But he promised me he was gonna stand on the start line

at the Olympics in the best possible shape.

And he promised me, actually,

he was going to be better than he ever was before.

Done is done, I cannot change it and now we just go forward.

And we had a talk a few days after, when he got home,

and he wanted to prepare for the Olympics.

And I told him, "I feel almost depressed," I said.

And he said, Mattias there is no time to think about the past,

now we just move forward.

I want to be Olympic champion,

you have to make the best out of this.

Let's get the best out of it. Let's be ready for Olympics.

Let's make a plan for that.

The shape isn't gone, we can build this.

I can train hard, we don't have to sit at home and cry.

I can't change that I crashed in the tour and that I have to leave,

but I can do everything in my power to be ready for our next goal.

-How are the legs, Skjelly? -They are okay.

I'm just getting started. Give me one more hour.

One more hour in a good, solid FTP-zone,

then he is there, then he is flying.

The fracture I had, I could ride with it,

as long as I could stand the pain.

At that point, you just suck it up.

Just try to find out how far I could put the pain barrier.

It was pretty high.

Just give me everything that I need to train.

Don't you think about my shoulder. I will take care.

Just give me this five-, six-, seven-hour blocks or whatever.

Every training was for this pretty simple,

I just suffered for this, nothing else.

I'm here to win,

and to win we have to be willing to risk it all or to lose it.

We can't race like we did Worlds last year,

so it's gonna be a different race than normal.

Is there any rider you are nervous about?

-Within the peloton? -No. No.

The guy... There's one guy we won't let go, Remco.

If this guy is leaving the peloton, we will never see him again.

But Skjelly has one job.

You seem very calm, very relaxed,

very happy compared to what you've been through.

I think it comes with confidence.

A big ego and a lot of confidence.

And it's easier to be relaxed in your own mind and what you're doing.

I don't know if it's good or bad,

but the self-confidence and the big ego is there.

Maybe it's the biggest race of my time as a national coach.

Primarily because I really believe that we have a chance,

not only to take a medal, but to win the race.

That's the reason why I'm pretty invested

both mentally, physically and emotionally.

I went to see the course in the end of March,

but it was also like an eye-opener for the actual possibilities

for the Danish national team to really perform and support Mads.

When you get that call from the national coach,

when he saw the course and he tells you if you're in shape,

this fits you perfect, then you're in shape.

Pretty simple, then you make it a goal.

-For sure it's Olympics. -It's a perfect circuit for him.

In that race, Mads, he has quite a big chance to win.

I really believe that he can do it.

We have Mads selected as a captain

and we have, basically, three riders to support him,

and the three of us here are willing to do everything possible

for Mads to get a medal on Saturday.

Don't show my stomach...

-If we start with Mikkel Bjerg... -...it's very fat.

...he is one of the strongest riders in the peloton.

He can bring back a breakaway, which will be needed, I think.

We have Michael Mørkøv,

maybe the most experienced rider in the bunch.

He has a very developed sense of coolness

and awareness of the tactics in the race.

So that's also very nice. Then we have Mattias Skjelmose.

I see a great future for him in these one-day races,

especially in the championships.

I mean, I always looked up to Mads. He's a couple of years older than me.

Yeah, Mads was always looking after us, like, he didn't have to.

Yeah, he was just super cool. I just wanted to be like him.

I think, now, when I'm here with the national team,

it's, kind of, like I want to give something back from back then.

He did something for me when I was like nothing,

and now we are both here, professionals,

and racing here at the Olympics is really special.

It's a weird relationship we have,

because, to me, he's almost like a big brother.

He makes joke with me, and really push it to the limit,

but, like, when it really matters, he's always there supportive,

he puts all the jokes away super serious guy.

Yeah, he's a killer.

I think Mads has the mentality of a winner.

And I think, also, the races he won also shows that he never gives up.

He's not afraid if one guy passes him on the line, then c'est la vie.

That's cycling, that's racing.

I think this kind of racing with no fear,

I think that matches his personality pretty well.

Something is up with my power meter.

-Is it teasing you? -Yes.

-Is it showing too little watts? -No.

-What then? -Too much.

-No. That's because you are strong. -It is not showing too much.

I heard you saying two weeks ago that you were in the shape of your life.

-Yeah, I'm still. -Exactly.

Then it's good that a shape peak remains for three weeks.

Now I've just topped it.

The power meter is feeling sorry for itself.

Then, I think there must be something up with my power meter.

But I just have diamonds in my legs.

-And that's today. -That's today.

Those opening intervals, they're always comparable.

Sometimes you struggle a bit with them at 420-430 watts.

Then, on a day like today, 460 watts easy just spinning the legs.

Light legs, Anders. Light legs.

-Can we do washing or...? -Yeah. I won't be here to collect...

-If it's in the machine, it's fine? -Yeah, sure.

You did say that you weren't satisfied with the season so far?

It's also a bit arrogant and stupid to say

because I have ------- two World Tour wins

and around seven, eight wins in total and the season is far from over.

What about the race on Saturday, the Olympics,

would a good result there, save what happened in the Tour?

Gold medal, yes.

-Only gold that counts? -Yes.

I admire Mads a lot.

I have a very good relationship with him, personally.

I saw him growing up and, obviously, I would be super proud

to be a part of a team that could win the Olympic road race.

Winning a medal at the Olympic Games for your country,

for your nation, is something much above cycling.

Yeah, I think on a course like the Olympics,

you don't wanna be against Mads Pedersen.

He's a guy you want to have on your team.

But, right now, we're sitting here, our only goal is to get a gold medal.

Tight now, we can't be happy with anything else.

I think, when I go to bed on Friday,

I just have one thing in my mind. It's, yeah, we go to war tomorrow.

It's with this stunning image

that we welcome you to a once-in-every-four-year event.

The world gathering to celebrate the very best in sport,

cycling no different.

Today, the top talent fights it out on French roads,

not for yellow, but for gold.

It's the Olympic Games road race.

It starts and finishes

in this stunning location in the City of Love.

Our plan was no World-Tour riders can go on the break.

We succeed with that.

But no-one was threatened by this break.

And Belgium, with Remco, the biggest favorite of the race,

they were like, "We're not gonna pull."

And our plan was to pull.

And the Dutch, they started to pull with us, and then they were like,

at one point they started to say,

"We won't pull if Belgium isn't pulling."

This is really what we did expect from the very beginning of the race.

This is the balance of power within this Olympic road race.

We were like, "Okay, we pull if all the big nations are pulling."

I think the whole team maybe, and also myself,

we were too over excited.

Chit chatting, going around, "What do you guys want?"

"We only want if they want," like all the stupid things.

And then, yeah, we, kind of, all agreed to start working again.

From my perspective everything falls to pieces within 20k.

First, we lose Mikkel Bjerg and Michael Mørkøv,

so we only have our captains left quite early in the final.

And then we have the mechanical for Skjelmose, he has a puncture.

- Bike change. - Skjelmose, yes!

I spotted Skjelmose at the back of the peloton a moment ago.

Thought it was an odd place for him to be

and this explains exactly why.

This is just a rock moment for a mechanical.

One of the key cards to play, being protected,

it wasn't just about Pedersen.

And again, rather similar to Belgium,

Evenepoel would be the first card to play, if you could choose.

It was the job of Skjelmose

to follow Remco if he went already at that time.

But Skjelmose just had a puncture, we go to the top and who goes? Remco.

Oh, Evenepoel straight over the top, marked by Jorgensen immediately.

You don't let Remco go.

So, then, the race started.

The tactics are to make it even harder.

Then it's Mads Pedersen, who's not far away, in the red jersey.

And then Mads, he has a flat.

Front wheel, front wheel, front wheel!

Oh, an issue, too, for Mads Pedersen now.

-He's going for a wheel, not a bike. -Why would he do that?

It's the worst moment, you know, it's like 1k from the climb,

so I have to go back to the car and, actually,

he's on the way to grab a bike and I'm like, no, give me a wheel.

And I have no idea why I said this.

I should have taken the bike, it would have been a lot faster.

I do everything I can to come back

and I just come back in the bottom of the climb.

The whole race for us was about that point,

that we were gonna be in front there,

I thought the race was gonna be decided there.

Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert!

The moment I come back, I look up and I see Mathieu, Wout,

I just see big names going full gas.

I was like, okay, they already had a gap

so from there on it was, like, all or nothing.

So, I just went all in, I jumped across.

Mads Pedersen, he's just getting desperate now

because we mentioned that the time he had that front-wheel puncture

he chose not to take a spare bike, the quickest option.

The moment come across.

I'm a bit on the limit and Remco, Bam, he goes.

That's a big move!

So, Evenepoel out the front.

You talked about it earlier on, Robbie, do a time trial

exactly what he did last week to gold.

Yeah, from there on it's... we're in quite a survival mode

defending ourselves, and in the end they just go away.

Now then, out of the saddle, pedal shaking, bars turning.

Now Mathieu van der Poel still has his mate on his wheel,

his biggest competitor comes across...

We said it could happen any time.

It's the double for the first time ever in men's Olympic cycling.

The streets of Paris are paved with gold for Remco Evenepoel,

the Olympic champion.

Disappointing. It was a ---- result. It was not what we came for.

Skjelmose finished, what? 12th, 13th, something like this,

and I was 20th, maybe.

I was...

...empty.

Disappointing day.

But, sometimes, that's also racing.

You know, even when the shape is good, it is what it is.

It's not because we're bad bike riders.

It just didn't play out in our favor that day.

You always need to prove yourself, and you always want more,

and that is really how Mads is also.

That's why he is the winner type

because he is not satisfied with just one win

and he always wants to continue and continue.

This Deutschland Tour, which was a really big highlight for us.

This race was incredible, it's super nice.

We won all the stages in the race, and the team atmosphere was so nice.

All in all, super, super good week.

You are the third most winning rider with 12 wins in 2024?

That's okay. But I would rather have four wins

and then a Monument, or one stage in the Tour,

or something like this.

All in all, it was a quite good season.

But, I'm dreaming for more than this.

He inspires me. He's my big brother. I look up to him.

Both Mads and Mark have success in their life in different ways.

What I look up to in Mads is how dedicated he is to his goals,

just how calm he takes everything.

If someone says something bad about him, it doesn't really bother him.

He's on another level already now compared to last year.

Last year, he wouldn't be able to sit next to me for three hours like this.

There's still a bit of a difference, but he put on another level now.

This was a really good year.

In 2025, he wants to take the step

and then, hopefully, in '26, he changes the Lidl logo

here on the left, from Conti to Pro Tour.

He always tells me that other people's opinion doesn't matter.

And I should just focus on myself, and this is what I try to do.

And he also just confirms me that I'm not him,

and I will never be him.

And I also know this,

so I just need to focus on myself and my own development.

Let me say it like this:

I have... one thing I can pick between two:

Winning Roubaix

or being professional the rest of my career with my brother.

I would never win Roubaix.

I would be professional with him for the rest of my career.

I enjoy it so much that I cannot think of anything else,

so we have to do it again and again.

I just hope that Mads has the fire still for many years.

And I'm pretty sure that he has it.

You told me I could spin for two minutes?

Or you can spin, if you want.

What did you look forward to in 2025?

To do it all over again.

It sounds stupid, but I love this whole process in cycling.

The process of trying to be the best bike rider in the world.

See you later.

I will keep fighting for this Monument.

TRANSLATOR CREDIT Iyuno