Trek - Segafredo's Tom Skujins is one of the references of Baltic road cycling and is one of the most vocal voices in the peloton ever since the 24th of February where an armed war was taken to another level in Ukrainian territory.
He has shared his thoughts in an interview with Cyclingnews on how the last few weeks have been to him, psychologically: "It's not easy. I definitely felt quite conflicted two weeks ago when I was off to my first Opening Weekend, which I was very excited about. But on the train, I was watching the news and I really didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know how to feel. There’s definitely some good days and bad days." Having 214 kilometers of border with Russia and 173 with Ukraine, his home country of Latvia is in a complicated location in Europe, and he stresses about the possible consequences it can have on his family.
"We border both Russia and Belarus, and Ukraine is not that far, and obviously in years past we’ve also been part of the Soviet Union. And one of our directors [Yaroslav Popovych] is Ukrainian. That’s why it hits maybe closer to home for me than for others. My sisters aren’t in Latvia anymore, but my parents are still there, my friends are still there, my grandparents are still there."
Popovych, pro rider of Trek - Segafredo and it's past nomenclatures from 2010 to 2016, has since become one of the team's Sports Directors, and as talked about his intentions of returning to his home country of Ukraine to defend it against the ongoing Russian attack. From within the team there has been an effort to spread help into pro-Ukrainian organizations, from Quinn Simmons for example.
"A lot of the former Soviet countries have come a long way, so it’s really a pity to see the people getting oppressed again. That’s why I have to be vocal about it - I think everyone does. If we don’t do anything about it, it might lead to something bigger," he added.
