My family have always been active in sports. Not on a high-performance level but we’ve always done something active. I did a lot of running and athletics when I was young. My dad and I got road bikes at the same time when I was 12. We just rode around and had fun when the weather was good.
A knee injury from running meant I couldn’t do it as much as I was used to so I started spending more time on my bike. I showed good athletic ability from a young age, so cycling came naturally when I changed over. I started combing road cycling and mountain biking and things got a little more serious when I was 14. That’s when I got a Danish license and did competitions. That year I did the national championships on the mountain bike and the road. I won the silver medal in the mountain bike championships for the under-15 category.
In the beginning, I was mostly focused on mountain biking but lost the motivation during my junior years. I was not very good technically on the mountain bike, I was just strong. The level of Danish juniors is really high so if you’re up there, you’re with the best in the world.
I just didn’t enjoy that one hour of full gas racing off-road. For mountain biking, you need to have that adrenaline pumping on the start line. Your heart rate needs to be over 100 before turning the first pedal. Towards the end of my junior years, mine was at resting heart rate on the start line, I didn’t have the motivation. It wasn’t the right thing for me.
Magnus celebrates with teammates after winning in Oman ©Muscat Municipality/A.S.O. / K.D. Thorstad
Throughout that time I was still competing on the road a little bit so I knew I was good at it too. In the winter of my junior years, I made the switch completely to the roadside. The road suited me much better. You can be relaxed on the start line and then later on when the action starts I can be ready.
One of the biggest things I experienced was leaving home when I was sixteen. I’m from Bornholm and I moved to mainland Denmark to join a sports school. I thought I would go back home after one year but decided to do a second year away from home with another school. Bornholm was too far from all the races so I had to move permanently. It’s quite something to do for such a young guy but I learnt a lot from the experience. I was also lucky to have great support from my family and trainers and coaches.
I actually had the opportunity to turn professional a year earlier than I did. I had offers from teams but the national team and my team manager at the time advised me to wait another year. They had some data from Danish riders who had really good results in the junior ranks but then would struggle at the highest level because they turned pro too soon.
Winning two stages in the 2016 Vuelta a Espana showed Magnus was on the right track (ASO/Unipublic/J-A. Miguelez.)
Looking back now, that was the right decision because I’m progressing well every year. My most important result so far came in the 2016 Vuelta a Espana. Winning the final stage in Madrid was really special. I won my first stage a few days before and it showed that it wasn’t a one-off thing. Winning a stage in a Grand Tour is a pretty big deal. It made me believe that I can make it.
My form has been really good this year. I was hoping for some more results from myself, but the team has been doing an amazing job with so many riders getting results. I hoped for a little more for myself in the Spring Classics but I got one win in Oman and some other nice results so it’s not all bad. My goal is to be in the real final in the Spring classics when there are only six guys left. I’m still young and I learn every year so I take a lot of lessons away from this year’s Spring campaign.
