Mats Pedersen has signed a contract extension that will keep him with Trek-Segafredo until at least the end of the 2022 season.

The 24-year-old Dane, who became road racing world champion in Yorkshire in September, joined the Italian-American WorldTour team in 2017 after starting his career with lower-level teams Cult Energy and Storting.

In April 2018, after finishing second in the Tour de Flanders, Pedersen extended his original contract by two years to the end of the 2020 season. Now wearing the world champion's rainbow band, team manager Luca Guercilena moved even faster to secure his services for 2021 and 2022.

"Luca really believed in me when I first signed on with the team three years ago. In fact, the year before that, even when I was having a little trouble with Curt and Stelting, he already had great faith in me.

"That team lasted another year, so I stayed there, but I was really happy that Luka had already given me confidence then. That was a big reason why I re-signed with the team now."

Guercilena is eager to continue working with Pedersen.

"It is very important for us to be able to work with Mads for a couple more seasons. Finding him when he was a young talent and developing him into a world champion was a tough but very rewarding job.

Pedersen won 10 races with Trek-Segafredo, starting with the Danish national road race title in his first year, followed by the Tour du Poitou-Charentes, Tour of Denmark, Tour de Euro-Metropole, GP Isberg, and Herald SunTour. He won stages.

In the 2018 Tour de Flanders, he finished second behind Niki Terpstra.

The 2019 classic was a disappointment for the entire Trek-Segafredo team, but Pedersen bounced back later that year to win the world title in miserable conditions in northern England.

"I want to keep winning races," Pedersen said, before making his Tour de France debut and targeting the classics this year. He debuted at the 2020 Tour Down Under, where he helped Richie Porte win the overall.

"I don't want to show up every once in a while, I want to be more consistent and more top-level in all races, not just the big races. And, of course, to honor and pay tribute to the Rainbow Stripes," Pedersen said.

Guercilena agrees with that ambition.

"He is a winner and has a winning instinct.

"He struggled last season, but his victory at the World Championships gave him confidence and I believe he will achieve great results in the coming seasons.