"I didn't think we were going to start again" - Mattias Skjelmose awarded for pushing through the cold conditions with podium result

Mattias Skjelmose was one of the many frozen heroes of Paris-Nice stage 4. Like everyone else, the Dane battled through harsh weather to reach the finish line and was rewarded with a very nice third place on the day, losing only to Joao Almeida and Jonas Vingegaard.

"I felt pretty good until it started hailing. Then the race was neutralized, so it was really cold. It took me about five minutes to decide to stop, to put on all the clothes I could to be safe. And I thought: if the race restarts, too bad, I'll be dropped. And if it doesn't, then I'll have made the right decision," Skjelmose explained in post-stage interview.

"I really felt it affected my maximum power and big accelerations. When your legs are frozen, it really compromises anaerobic work, and I suffered a lot from it. I also had to dig very deep in the last 200 meters. And frankly, it wasn't fun."

When the race paused at 117 km to go, rider representatives and race organizers held discussions about continuing the race with storm reportedly weakening on the final climb to La Loge des Gardes. Yet Skjelmose informs that his Lidl-Trek teammate Mads Pedersen never thought for a split second the race would end here.

"To be honest, I didn't think we were going to start again. But Mads told me quite early on: Get ready, we're going to ride again, they're never going to stop. So, I took it upon myself and, even though I was frozen and shaking, I was ready to go again," he added.

On top of a great performance today, Skjelmose also moves up to a virtual podium with 33 seconds of deficit to overall leader Vingegaard. But he also needs to look over his shoulder in coming days with two more riders within 4 seconds half-way through the French stage race.