Blow for Lidl-Trek as Mattias Skjelmose is ruled out of Criterium du Dauphine 2025

Mattias Skjelmose was widely expected to lead the general classification charge of the Lidl-Trek team at the 2025 Criterium du Dauphine, but with their lineup for the race being revealed, the Dane is notable by his absence.

Unveiling a sprint based squad of Jonathan Milan, Julien Bernard, Simone Consonni, Amanuel Ghebreigzahier, Toms Skujins, Jasper Stuyven and Edward Theuns, Lidl-Trek's ambitions for the 2025 Criterium du Dauphine are clear. What that means for Skjelmose however, is a change in plan as the 24-year-old Amstel Gold Race winner swaps the Dauphine for the Tour de Suisse in his preparation for the 2025 Tour de France.

Rather than any fear of competing against the likes of Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel ahead of the Tour however, it's purely a fitness issue that Skjelmose has changed his plans. “He was feeling a bit under the weather after the altitude training camp," explains the team about Skjelmose's absence in quotes collected by Feltet.dk. "So the change was made to give him more time to recover.”