As the 2024 season comes to an end, so does the career of Michael Mørkøv after 15 years at the World Tour level. While his career may not be filled with personal victories, he has had an important role as a lead-out man delivering numerous sprinters to victories. Alongside Mørkøv, several other Danish riders face an uncertain future in 2025 regarding their presence on World Tour or ProTour teams.
However, the next generation of Danish talent is emerging, and multiple riders are taking the step onto both the World Tour and ProTour levels. In this blog post, I will take a closer look at the new Danish riders taking a step up in 2025.
Asbjørn Hellemose (SWATT Club → Team Jayco-AlUla-2025)
25-year-old Asbjørn Hellemose has managed to achieve something not many riders do, as he has fought his way back to the WorldTour after a brief step down. Following three years with WorldTour team Lidl-Trek, Hellemose found himself without a contract and joined the smaller Italian squad, SWATT Club, which focuses on gravel racing. With only 11 race days in 2024, most of them on gravel, his road race calendar was limited. However, his determination and consistency helped him achieve his goal of coming back to the WorldTour. By improving his performance, Hellemose caught the attention of Team Jayco-AlUla, who offered him a 1-year contract. Making his dream of returning to the WorldTour in 2025 a reality.
Peter Øxenberg (Team ColoQuick → INEOS-2027)
18-year-old ColoQuick rider Peter Øxenberg received quite the attention when he broke the record on the well-known Coll de Rates in March, by finishing 11 seconds faster than Juan Ayuso, who had set the previous record in December 2023. This achievement came after a team effort to deliver Øxenberg to his best possible time. In addition, Øxenberg also has some interesting race results in 2024 including a 2nd place in the U23 edition of Eschborn-Frankfurt, a stage wins at the Polish U23 Race Orlen Nations Grand Prix. Aswell as great results in races on home soil including 8th place in the Elite ITT.
Albert Withen Philipsen (Tscherning Cycling Academy → Lidl-Trek-2028)
Albert Withen Philipsen is a multi-talent on the bike, becoming Danish junior champion in four disciplines in 2023, with wins in the Time Trial, Road Race, Cyclocross, and Mountain Bike. He didn’t stop at national success, as he became world champion in the junior road race, spending most of the race in the breakaway before riding solo to victory. At the same World Championships, Withen Philipsen also became world champion in the XCO Mountain Bike event, and later in the year, he claimed European titles in both XCO and the Time Trial. A couple months later in December 2023, his contract with Lidl-Trek from 2025 to 2028 was announced.
In 2024, he has continued to impress across disciplines, starting the year by becoming Danish U19 Cyclocross champion on January 14th. This wasn’t his only national title in 2024, as he became National ITT champion in June, with over a minute ahead of runner-up Carl Emil Just Pedersen. In August, Philipsen achieved one of his major season goals by becoming junior world champion in Mountain Bike. His next target is the junior road race World Championships on September 16th, before he turns pro with Lidl-Trek in 2025.
Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen (Decathlon AG2R La modiale devolopment Team → Decathlon AG2R La modiale Team)
The 22-year-old Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen`s best result can be found on home soil where he became u23 national road race champion in 2022 aswell as in 2023. In 2024 he turned his national u23 title into an elite title, after a late attack in a small group beating Kasper Asgreen, Frederik Wandahl and Michael Valgren on the line to take the victory. Apart from success at nationals Søjberg has also won Grand Prix Herning a flat race with gravel sections. Søjberg also has some great results outside Denmark as he won 2 stages at Olympia tour and got second in GC in 2024 and additionally, he recently got a second place on a stage in Tour of Britain.
Apart from the 4 riders joining the sports highest ranked teams, 2 riders will be joining ProTour Teams, both moving from Uno-X Mobillity Devolopment Team to Uno-X Mobillity.
Simon Dalby (Uno-X Mobillity Devolopment Team → Uno-X Mobillity - 2026)21-year-old Simon Dalby has spent the past three years with the Uno-X Development Team and is now set to make the jump to the ProTour level. Dalby has demonstrated his strength in climbing, recently securing 6th place in the general classification at the Tour de l'Avenir. Last year, he showcased his talent by winning a stage at Course de la Paix and finishing 2nd in the general classification of the race.
Henrik Breiner Pedersen (Uno-X Mobillity Devolopment Team → Uno-X Mobillity - 2027)
Recently Henrik Breiner Pedersen claimed at stage win at Tour de l`Avenir wearing the European champions jersey, after becoming U23 European Road race champion last year at 18-years old.
Pedersen is a fast young rider who seems to perform best on flatter terrain and shows great potential in the classics. Maybe he will be the next Pedersen that Danes will cheer for in the classics?
Looking ahead, the future of Danish cycling looks promising with these new talents joining the WorldTour and ProTour teams in 2025. Asbjørn Hellemose, Peter Øxenberg, Albert Withen Philipsen, Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen, Simon Dalby, and Henrik Breiner Pedersen all bring unique strengths and potential to their new teams. I’m excited to see how they will perform in the coming season, which races they will target, and how they will adapt to their new teams and higher levels of competition. It’s an exciting time for Danish cycling, and I look forward to witnessing its evolution, as well as cheering for the new Danish riders at the highest level of the sport.
Overview
WorldTour:
Asbjørn Hellemose (SWATT Club → Team Jayco-AlUla-2025)
Peter Øxenberg (Team ColoQuick → INEOS-2027)
Albert Withen Philipsen (Tscherning Cycling Academy → Lidl-Trek-2028)
Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development Team → Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team)
ProTour:
Simon Dalby (Uno-X Mobility Development Team → Uno-X Mobility - 2026)
Henrik Breiner Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility Development Team → Uno-X Mobility - 2027)
I may have missed some names, but these are the riders I was able to find 😊If you're still with me here at the end—thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed learning about these up-and-coming Danish talents!
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