Interview with Mats (December 2025)
Hi Mats good to see you. So we're sitting here together after your break, you have resumed training since 3 weeks or so and we are putting together some facts about your last season, some hopes, some perspectives, and we will try to draw some conclusions too.
Overall your year was very nice at this level. So let's look at the numbers first. Do you know how many kilometres you did on the bike last year for training and for races?
I think I'm now close to 29'000.
OK, that's enormous! On Procyclingstats, I was reading about 9000 race kilometres. So that gives you 20'000 training kilometres, and you had 63 race days.
It's a lot, yes, because the last years, I've never done that many race days. So it was a big step up I think, in terms of effort and felt it in the in the fatigue.
Did you also feel it in improvements of your performance? Did it already have an impact or will it come later?
Maybe I think it will come this year (2026) and I will adapt better to races or a lot of race days.
Fine, so something which struck me when I was looking at your numbers on Procyclingstats, were the dozens of kilometres that you have been racing in front of the peloton. Do you know the exact figure?
I think a lot. If I would guess around one thousand...
Actually, it's a bit more than 900... We could also look up your best positions on Procyclingstats, but I wanted to ask your opinion, what were they in your perception?
I would say my best result for sure was the second place in the mountain price in Tour of Catalonia. Also I think the 10th place in the general classification of Arctic Race of Norway and position 17 at the European road Championships.
(NOTE ON THE ERC: Mats was classified as rider number 17 but he was the last one to be classified. All others were take out of the race. See more.)
Maybe one question most of your followers ask themselves is, why are you escaping so many times?
I like to be in the in the breakaway because you can really push yourself to the limit, I would say, and you maybe get chances you don't get in the peloton because if you have races with the likes of Pogacar then you don't have a chance at all (to show yourself, to have a good result). So I'm still waiting for the day that my breakaway makes it to the finish line (Mats gives a big smile).
That was actually one of my questions. Do you aim for winning the race when you escape? Do you always have this in mind that you want to go to the end?
It depends on the race. Let's say in "Catalonia" this year I was in a breakaway to get the KOM (King of Mountain) Jersey. But then in races like Tour of Luxembourg, the last day, of course the goal was to win the stage.
Yeah, unfortunately, you were with two riders who were stronger than you. And how does this harmonise with the team tactics? I mean, do you sometimes go away without approval or order?
No, without I cannot imagine. A lot of times, the sports director comes in the morning or the day before and asks, what I think about going in the breakaway. And then I can say no, I don't want to. But most of the times I say yes, good idea, because I like it and then I think in 75 or even 90% of the cases when I want to be in the breakaway, I also manage to do so, because not everybody that is interested to do so, effectively manages, but I think I have a good eye for this. So when the breakaway forms, you feel whether it goes away or not. Sometimes I spend a bit too much energy, but in the end, when I am in the breakaway, I can also recover. Sometimes, in the beginning of the breakaway, I was already feeling the legs, but then I recovered during the race and then towards the end I had a better feeling again.
Is it always your initiative to go into this group?
No, it depends. Sometimes when I'm, for example, not in the GC and my older teammates need support, then I have to watch for dangerous breakaways and then I have to be in. But that's also something I like doing because it helps the team.
What do you think is the ideal race for you? Is it one day races, one week or the grand tours?
I think I can do a bit of everything, but I didn't find my perfect race yet. In general, I prefer the stage races because in the last days you can also play with the fatigue of the others. And normally I'm someone who recovers well. So often I try to escape in the last days of the race.
You are mountain rider, this we know...
...yes but not the steep type, rather flatter. Climbs around 10 minutes suit me the best. I think this effort is what is logic, because I'm training still a lot here in Luxembourg, there are no longer climbs than 15 minutes. And my best performance is over the shorter distance, I cannot sustain this effort so long as a typical mountain rider.
So what does this mean for training and racing perspectives for the next season? Your team defines your race plan and your training scheme accordingly or will they also ask you which races you want to do or is it completely imposed?
How it works is that for first part of the season I got a programme, but I think last year in the summer I could decide a bit on my own, what race to do and what for the remainder of the year. Right now I think they know very well what I'm capable of and they will send me in 2026 to the races I can perform on. So I don't have to argue with them (smiles).
I know that you spend time in the mountains for training purposes, often with your friends, mostly from Luxembourg? Or do you also have teammates that go with you to the high mountain camps?
Last year was really cool because there were a lot of different riders in the same place. So one day I went with a teammate, then one day with a friend from another team.
How many days did you spend in the high mountains like this over the last season?
Last year in the high mountains only 2 1/2 weeks, but this year more is planned. We try to include two training camps at high altitude, maybe to prepare the world championships.
But your main base is still Luxembourg?
Yeah: Luxembourg' geography is good for training, I know it perfectly, and for most of the races that I should take part in, you can prepare very well in Luxembourg. There should be maybe a few longer climbs then it would be perfect (smiles) but I think we have some of the best roads in Europe for sure and we have a lot of options where you can go.
You feel safe on the roads?
Yes, never in danger. I try to avoid the dangerous roads.
You never go to the Vosges because they are much closer (200 km from Luxembourg) than the Alps?
Oh, if the weather would be better there, I would go more often. But it's similar to Luxembourg, with longer climbs of course. Yes, really good training!
Mats, how about your Spanish? Can you follow the team meetings in Spanish and feel confident?
Yes, yes, I understand the conversation when they don't speak too fast. In the end I listen to it all the time on the on the table and so I get used to the language and then I can participate but I don't want to complicate it, so I mostly listen.
And what about the Basque language, your team is located in the Basque country but the main language is Spanish, right?
We are located in Pamplona (Spain). There are indeed some guys from the Basque country, they speak Basque between themselves yes, but it's like a completely different language, nothing related to Spanish. And of course I don't understand anything!
Did you surprise yourself with your performances last year?
Yes, to some extent, but I was maybe hoping for a better start into the season. I feel it still as a bit disappointing that I couldn't perform in all the races, but it's impossible for sure to perform everywhere. In the summer I was really good and I think it's a natural stepping up. This is more what I was hoping for.
Cool. So if some people were surprised about your performances in Luxembourg, it's because they don't know you well enough or because they don't follow closely?
Maybe some people think that you will stay on the same level, but I think you can always improve, especially if you go one level up in terms of professionalism.
How long can you still improve? You just turned 23 now?
I think I started getting better a bit later than some other riders. If you look back, I think I started really seeing a big difference in performance some 3 to 4 years ago. This can still continue until for sure 27 or 28
So what exactly will be your race plan for 2026?
It' will be similar to last year with Mallorca Challenge, then Valencia. Again, the 1st highlight is Catalunya,
Sorry for this is stupid question but what ARE your ambitions then for 2026?
I want to have more top ranks, top results and one really big result, something to show to the world, so to speak.
Thanks a lot Mats and good luck, stay safe!!R
My story (February 2024)
Mats is injured and it’s the second serious injury he has had in his cycling career. In late February 2024, he is sitting at home, with his family, and we have ample time to chat about his life on the bike so far. Mats is at this point racing for the development team of Lidl-Trek, after having spent 3 years with Leopard, a Luxembourg-based continental team. Even though he theoretically races in the same categories as with Leopard, the big difference is that he can now train with the pros (the likes of Mads Pedersen) and may also take part in races above the continental level (but no world tour races yet, like The Tour de France).
Fast-rewind: Mats started his cycling career with a club in Schifflange, in the south of Luxembourg. His parents’ home being quite a distance from Schifflange, joining the club also had the advantage of a weekly visit to the grand-parents or his father’s parents who still live in the area today. Training was on Tuesdays only, at the beginning, and later sometimes on Saturdays. At that point, racing was still a game for Mats. Mountain biking was his first love until he turned about 15. This comes as no surprise for those that know the Red Rock area near Schifflange. When he turned 10, Mats took part in his first competitions, mostly on the road bike, some off-road…. At the beginning, he rarely won because at this point being one of the youngest of his age-group and surely also not one of the tallest, he had a big disadvantage compared to other riders. Once he moved up to older categories (13-15 year-olds), he could then hold off the best, and win his first competitions on the mountain bike at the age of 13.
By this time, he had changed to a club closer to his home, the Tooltime Préizerdaul. It was during this period that Mats really got into cycling! With a bunch of friends, they slept at each other’s places and went biking all weekend or during school holidays. If they stopped to have a break ("active" breaks like playing football were very popular), someone had to spin the wheels on the bikes in order to accumulate the necessary distance they needed as proof for their seriousness in training.
Friendships foster team spirit and this has always played an important role for Mats, even if the notion of team spirit only gained more relevance as he got older and competed in categories such as the juniors. Nonetheless, at this time, Mats made friends that are nowadays best training mates, who accompany him on his training rides no matter the weather. Racing with friends, like for the Luxembourgish national teams of all youth categories, taught Mats a lot about what role riders in races have to play, from being the leader or the road captain to being a domestique (e.g. getting water bottles from the team car or protecting the strongest in the team). Once Mats went for his first altitude camps, it was usually with his friends from the Luxembourgish national teams, like in 2022, to prepare the prestigious Tour de l’Avenir (Mats was 19th in the overall final ranking, in the latter years 2023 and 2024, he largely improved on these rankings).
After a short stay with Tooltime, Mats changed clubs again, and joined the newly created Atertdaul Cycling Team in Rédange, where his father Pascal gradually took over the role of trainer and manager. However, with the recent move to Lidl-Trek Pascal has had to completely withdraw from this role. Cycling is a sport which you cannot practice without the support of your parents. Mats’ sister Liv is a cyclist too, and without the unconditional backing of their mother Angie, as well, both would not be where they are now. Aged 16, Mats gradually became more serious about biking as his father elaborated his first training plans, with clear evidence that Mats was not only a good pupil at school, but that he could also rigorously follow the precepts of the road to success.
Soon Mats revealed himself as a gifted climber, with less muscle mass compared to a lot of his competitors in Luxembourg who were early developers. Hence, it was more difficult for him to win races in Luxembourg were most of the climbs are short and sprinter-puncher qualities often decided on the outcome of races. Once Mats could compete abroad e.g. Oberösterreich Juniorenrundfahrt or Grand Prix Rüebliland in 2019, he was able to show he had an affinity for climbs that were not too long (such as in the Ardennes hills) as he was not too much disadvantaged by his power-to-weight ratio. But Mats also likes time trials…
A word here about Mats’ character, how he races, and how he has developed his profile and his character, apart from his physical aptitudes. Once Mats became seriously involved in cycling, he started to train outside by himself, which made it easier to follow the training plans (because riding alone is simply harder and it’s easier to precisely follow the instructions). Indeed, riding on his own across the Luxembourgish and Belgian Ardennes hills, fighting the elements all the time, surely helped to develop certain skills and strengths. Before becoming a professional rider with Lidl-Trek, mountain training camps were mostly organized among friends, which made it easier to withstand the boredom of being quite far away from home or even on his own.
According to his otherwise devoted parents, Mats was never spoiled with his material (bicycles and the likes) when he was a child. At the very beginning, he even had to compete in his first road races on his mountain bike! It's obvious Mats’ parents played a crucial role, seeing the side effects of over-ambitious parents, buying expensive bicycles and pushing their kids too hard too early. Most of these kids have since withdrawn from this beautiful but demanding sport. Funnily enough, after Mats’ very first training, at the age of 8, he did not want to go back a second time, probably because everything was new and somehow demanding and young Mats was not so keen on leaving his comfort zone at that age. Also, Mats was the youngest of his age category, and riding an alu bike, with most other kids showing off their carbon frames… Now it's Mats’ occasion to exhibit state-of-the-art cycles…
Mats always liked and still likes the three main cycling disciplines, which are mounting biking, road cycling and cyclo-cross. While, unfortunately, there are few mountain bike races in Luxembourg, until one or two years ago, every winter Mats took part in both national and international cyclo-cross competitions, including the world championships in February 2020. But he also admits that to rival with the likes of allrounders Pidcock or Van der Poel, he lacks talent and strength, especially since he is not a puncher. He has therefore decided to focus on his career as a professional roadie and respect the strategies of his current employer, Lidl-Trek, then Kern-Pharma from 2025 onwards, and to set his goal on mountain stages in multi-day races.
As a racer, Mats is very pro-active, he likes to attack, he is not scared of doing his part of the lead in the wind. These are features his father did not push or force him to develop, and neither did he advise his son to spare his forces for the last kilometer. For a long time, racing was just a game for Mats and he has managed to hold on to this playful attitude until today, like in Glasgow, for the U23 World Championships 2023, where he attacked once during the first kilometers, and later missed the group with the final winner… Another episode of this playful spirit at attacking could be observed during the 2023 Tour de Luxembourg, where Mats escaped early in each stage, alone or with some other rides, in order to win the jersey for the best climber (which he managed to keep until the end of race, indeed!). Often, riders that show this kind of attacking spirit, who are able to sacrifice themselves for their team mates, and who do not spare their efforts, are more visible and hence more interesting for prestigious squads, than those that regularly win in the youth categories.