Mads Pedersen signed a lucrative new contract with Trek-Segafredo after winning the World Championships last fall, but the recent news that his teammate and friend, Jasper Stuyven, will extend his contract with the team is equally was equally important for a team looking to gain a permanent foothold in the Spring Classic.

Steiven had attracted the attention of many teams, most notably Israel's Startup Nation, which was eager to strengthen nearly every department on the team. Chris Froome would join in 2021, but Nils Pollitt was set to move to Bora Hansgrohe next year, and the team was looking for a new cobbled-together leader. However, Steuben decided to re-sign with the U.S. World Tour team for the next two years, extending his tenure with his only professional team since turning pro in 2014.

For Pedersen, the news of Stuyven's new contract was welcome; the two work well together on the bike and enjoy a healthy friendship off the race.

"For me personally, I'm very happy. He is one of my best friends and I really enjoy racing with him. If you talk to him, I think he would agree that we have stronger races together than apart," Pedersen told Cycling News in a zoom interview with the media over the weekend.

"I would love to see him win a race, and if he's in front of me and wins, I'm as happy as I am myself. That's really important for the whole Classic group."

Trek-Segafredo has struggled on the cobbles since Fabian Cancellara retired in 2016. Steuben won two races on the opening weekend in Belgium, while Pedersen finished second in the 2018 Tour de Flanders. Both riders were below their best in last spring's races, but their talent is unquestionable, and teams will be hoping to see the two compete in races like Flanders and Paris-Roubaix for years to come.

"We've started to build a really strong group, and I think we're going to be able to do it again in the next few years. But with his win in Omloop, we got back on track and proved that we are building a strong team for the Classics."

Pedersen returned to racing at the Vuelta a Burgos on Tuesday, finishing 146th in the opening stage. Although the Vuelta a Burgos is not a race for stage wins, the world champion is steadily gaining strength ahead of the cobbled race scheduled for later this year. Next week we start in Burgos. There is a chance to do well in Poland, but I want to win the national championships again. I want to win the classics this year to show what I couldn't do in the spring.

The world champion will also compete in the Tour de France, a race with many mountain stages and a chance to find his best form before the classics. He will also be supporting Richie Porte and Bauke Mollema on the flats, but Pedersen asserts that recovery is crucial to tackle so many races in such a short time.

"I will be racing the Tour, but last year Kim Andersson told me the Tour is too hard and has too many climbs. But last year Kim Anderson told me the Tour was too hard with too many climbs. I'm in it to help Richie. I'm in it to help Richie.

"The next two or three months are going to be a series of fucking hard races, 45 race days in two and a half months. I don't know if that's the best preparation, but under the circumstances I have to race and I have to show the team jersey."

"Maybe it would be better if the Tour was only two weeks and there was another week before the World Championships and Bink Bank. The main thing this season is to recover. If we can make up for it, we'll manage until October."