Lidl-Trek's Andersen critical of support riders after Skjelmose loses time on first Vuelta mountain stage: 'It's not good enough'

Lidl-Trek started the Vuelta a España with Mattias Skjelmose as a contender for the podium, but the Dane didn’t have a great day in the first mountain stage. In Andorra, where he lives, Skjelmose lost 40 seconds to the other contenders for second and third place. The Lidl-Trek team leader was already riding alone in the lead group after just 20 kilometers.

On the Envilara, a peloton of about 30 to 40 riders remained, but behind them, Lidl-Trek had several riders taking turns at the front in the second group. Afterward, it turned out that the team leader himself wasn’t in that group, but was riding alone in the main group.

"It's not good enough. I'm not disappointed that Mads Pedersen isn't in the mix after a 25-kilometer climb, but we have other riders who should be performing better in the mountains," team manager Kim Andersen told TV2, referring to Patrick Konrad, Julien Bernard, and Lennard Kämna. “They should have been there.”

On the other climbs, it was clear that Skjelmose didn’t have the legs to keep up with Oscar Onley, Felix Gall, Sepp Kuss, Enric Mas, and Primoz Roglic. Together with Richard Carapaz and Jarno Widar, he was still able to limit the damage, though he couldn’t keep up with them either on the day’s final climb.

"He wasn't feeling great. If we break it down, we see that he lost a minute in the fourth stage of the 2024 Vuelta, where he finished fifth. So he might have some trouble at the start," Andersen says, speculating on a possible reason. “Of course, it’s a shame that we’re losing time. But it’s not a disaster, because he did gain time on a number of competitors, so everything’s fine,” the DS concludes.

"I had a little trouble pushing hard. Maybe it's because of the Tour, but I'm not nervous. I also had a rough start in 2024, but things turned out fine in the end," he adds. "I’ve never ridden two Grand Tours back-to-back, so it’s probably just the race itself, but I hope I can improve on that later."