Skjelmose ends season after grueling Tour/Vuelta double header: ‘We won’t know that until later’

Skjelmose got off to a solid start to the year, finishing seventh in the Tour of Catalonia and fourteenth in the Tour of the Basque Country. But it was in the Ardennes classics that he really showed off his incredible form: he finished second in the Amstel Gold Race and fifth in the Flèche Wallonne. He then set his sights on the Tour de France.

He got there via a stop at the Tour Auvergne–Rhône-Alpes, where he finished sixth. In the Tour, high hopes were pinned on teammate Juan Ayuso, but after two weeks as a domestique, the Dane simply proved to be better than the Spaniard. With an outstanding time trial and a fantastic final week, Skjelmose worked his way up to sixth place in the overall standings.

In that form, he then went straight on to the Vuelta, where he lined up as one of the underdogs. If Tadej Pogacar were to drop out, he seemed to have a good chance. But when the time came, Skjelmose was unable to keep up with the best riders in the race. Gradually, he lost more and more time. In the end, he played no role in Spain and finished thirteenth.

It took a lot out of him to ride two grueling Grand Tours back-to-back. Too much, as it turns out. He had already pulled out of the World Championships, and on Instagram , Skjelmose announced that his season is over. “The Vuelta turned out to be much tougher than I thought,” the Dane said. “We wanted to push the limits, and I can proudly say that we found them. Was it worth it? We won’t know that until later.”

Despite an outstanding performance, the Lidl-Trek rider is left with a bitter taste in his mouth. “I can’t say I’m happy with my season. Overall, I’ve reached a new level, but I felt like I was always just missing that little something to achieve the big results. But for now, the focus is on recovery for next year.”