"I just want to lie down and cry, this is very hard to take" - Mattias Skjelmose blows out of Liege-Bastogne-Liege contention attempting to follow Tadej Pogacar

Despite having vocal ambitions of a podium finish ahead of Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2024, Mattias Skjelmose was sadly forced to settle for 28th, nearly four minutes down on eventual winner Tadej Pogacar.

"This week is a big disappointment. Right now I just want to lie down and cry, this is very hard to take," reflects the Lidl-Trek leader emotionally and regretfully post-race to Danish media, referring also to his abandon of La Fleche Wallonne in midweek. "I expressed my ambitions, but I have to go back to the drawing board."

"I was riding for Urska's mother today" - Emotional Tadej Pogacar dedicates victory to partner's mother on anniversary of her passing

Skjelmose does however, seem to realise the reason things went wrong for him. "Everything went as expected and when Tadej went I tried to follow. I never recovered from that. Maybe I dreamed too big and forgot what kind of champion Tadej is," he assesses honestly. "Trying to follow him cost me my entire race. If you get too close to the sun, you will burn.”