"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
Cycling
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."
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.”
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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The sprint for the last spot of the podium of #LBL. @BaukeMollema played his chances for our best placements (in the end, 13th)
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