Last September, Mads Pedersen was on cloud nine with a thrilling victory in the World Championship road race. Ten months have passed since that unforgettable day in the Yorkshire rain, but the Danish rider holds no grudge against the coronavirus that robbed him of the experience of racing in the rainbow jersey.

The Trek-Segafredo classics specialist will be back in action next week at the Vuelta a Burgos, and the racing calendar for the next few months, assuming everything goes according to plan, will include the Pologne, Bink Bank, Tour de France, cobbled classics, and a return to the world championships. Return and it's virtually nonstop. Pedersen hopes to make up for lost time and showcase the rainbow jersey in as many races as possible.

"I don't need to show anyone else that I deserve the jersey," he told a small group of media gathered at Zoom Call on Sunday morning.

"I won that day and I deserved it. People ask me if I feel pressure, and to be honest, there is a lot of pressure on my shoulders. I'm the one who wants to show off this jersey the most, and I have the most respect for this jersey, to be honest. I want to respect the jersey for how beautiful it is. I want to show that I deserve this jersey.

Few would dispute that Pedersen did not earn the right to wear the rainbow band. He was the smartest and the strongest on the soggy Yorkshire course. Although not the pre-race favorite, his victory was a quantum leap in the career of an already promising young rider. In the coming months, he will combine his own ambition with that of the rest of his teammates. He will be happy to work for others in a race like his debut Tour de France. Winning at Monument is the ultimate goal, but Pedersen knows that his progress in the coming months will be based on more than just the number of wins.

"So I don't really care if people accuse me of working for Richie Porte Down Under or not trying to do my thing. It's not my problem. I know what I'm doing and I want to respect that jersey. I want to do it my way, and if I can wear the jersey and be happy with my results, and if I can reach the goal I'm trying to achieve, nobody will be disappointed."

Not that the past few months haven't been tough. Pedersen's last race was Paris-Nice in March. Since then, Pedersen has maintained his fitness and worked on the little things that professional riders have to clean up during a busy season. He tries to look at the Lockdown experience positively as an opportunity to improve himself.

"Mentally, I'm totally fine. Of course, not being able to spend the season in the jersey was super sucky, but those things happen and you can't change them anyway. Mentally I'm ready to race again, and my form is where I want it to be. I've had some good training here over the last few months and I'm ready to race again and show off the jersey and the team sponsors.

"I've learned a lot mentally in the last few months. I've learned to focus more on myself and believe that what I'm doing is the best I can do. If I had kept my head right, I could have been stronger."

When the season opens, Pedersen won't be looking back and feeling sorry for himself. The Danish rider's goals, like the cobbled classics, all change later in the year, and any chance to wear the rainbow jersey, be it in training or in a race, is an opportunity.

"Ten years from now, people won't remember how many days I raced in the jersey. The only thing you will remember is that I won in Harrogate. That's my challenge. I'm just happy to have won the World Championships and I enjoy every time I put on the jersey, whether it's a one-hour training ride or a six-hour race. I can't change the coronavirus or the world locking down like this, but I'm happy to have won the World Championships and I enjoy racing in the jersey."