“I lose a couple of years of my life every time” - Mattias Skjelmose dreaming of home as Vuelta exhaustion leaves Lidl-Trek leader running on empty
Cycling
Mattias Skjelmose is still seventh overall at the 2026 Vuelta a Espana, but the Lidl-Trek leader sounded far more concerned with simply reaching the finish of the race after another punishing day on La Pandera.
The Dane lost around 1:15 to Enric Mas and Felix Gall on Stage 14 after being distanced when Movistar lifted the pace on the final climb. He nevertheless limited the damage around him, with sixth-placed Jakob Omrzel gaining only two seconds and Cristian Rodriguez moving to within 12 seconds from behind.
Skjelmose’s own assessment after the finish was much less measured. “It’s horrible. I lose a couple of years of my life every time,” he told TV 2, joking that “there probably won’t be much left of my marriage by the time I eventually get married... The tank is empty.”
And with another week of racing still ahead, Skjelmose admitted his thoughts were already drifting towards the end of the Vuelta. “Right now, I’m just looking forward to going home,” he said with a laugh.
A season with very little downtime
The Vuelta has arrived at the back end of a season in which Skjelmose has rarely been far from the sharp end. He finished seventh overall at the Volta a Catalunya before taking second at Amstel Gold Race and fifth at La Fleche Wallonne, then returned to stage racing with sixth overall at the Tour Auvergne – Rhone-Alpes.
From there came a full GC campaign at the Tour de France. Skjelmose finished sixth overall in Paris and was still racing for major results deep into the third week, taking third in the Stage 16 time trial and eighth on both Stages 19 and 20.
Less than a month later, he was back on a Grand Tour start line and once again fighting for position in the general classification. That workload has continued inside the Vuelta itself. On Stage 13, Skjelmose joined the huge breakaway and spent much of the day up the road trying to regain time, only to face La Pandera 24 hours later.
He briefly came under pressure from Clement Berthet in the virtual standings during Stage 14 before recovering enough ground on the final climb to preserve seventh.
Skjelmose sits 7th on GC after Stage 14
Final week still to come
There is no real chance to switch off yet. Skjelmose remains locked into a tight battle around the lower end of the top 10, with Omrzel 35 seconds ahead in sixth and Rodriguez just 12 seconds behind in eighth.
Stage 15 has at least been cut dramatically because of the extreme heat, reduced from 189.7 kilometres to 110.2, but the race still has another full week to run before Madrid.
Later this month, Skjelmose is also due to turn his attention towards the World Championships in Montreal, where he is expected to be one of Denmark’s leading riders. For now, though, the immediate challenge is simply getting through a Vuelta that has already left him openly admitting he is running on empty.
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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