"If this extraordinary generation wasn’t here, we’d be talking about Mattias as one of the best GC guys coming up" - Lidl-Trek's big praise for Skjelmose

The modern cycling peloton is being led by some of the greatest talents ever seen in the sport. The likes of Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and others, have starred in recent seasons, but according to Lidl-Trek, Mattias Skjelmose has the potential to compete against the very best.

“It’s true that compared to Tadej and Remco, Mattias cannot be directly compared, but if this extraordinary generation wasn’t here, we’d be talking about Mattias as one of the best GC guys coming up,” Lidl-Trek’s head of performance Josu Larrazabal explains in conversation with Velo. “And we have to remember that Primoz Roglic didn’t win his first Vuelta until he was 30. Mattias is 24 and already has three Grand Tours in his legs.”

In his three Grand Tour showings to date, Skjelmose has progressively improved his performances. 49th overall at the 2022 Giro d'Italia with a best stage finish of 10th, then 29th in the GC at the 2023 Tour de France before making a real breakthrough at the Vuelta a Espana in 2024, securing a top 5 in the general classification and winning the Best Young Rider's Jersey.

“We were following Mattias two years before he joined Trek [in 2021],” Larrazabal says of the Dane. “We helped to get him in the Leopard Continental team and we were in touch with him and his coach a lot. He has been a really special project for us, someone who we’ve brought with us from the base. He’s done all the progression with us.”

“Mattias is an example of the new generation: they’re really complete riders. He’s a TT specialist and, in my opinion, similar to Remco: a smaller body shape but really close to the bigger guys in the time trials who have based GC wins on their TT performances," the Lidl-Trek man continues. “He has always been solid in one-week stage racing and on top of that he’s really strong in one-day racing. He’s not one of those GC guys who needs the fatigue of stage racing to show how strong he is. He’s a really versatile rider.”

After the breakthrough Vuelta performance though, it's now time for Skjelmose to kick on even further. “Now he’s shown that he can stand out for three weeks, he has to keep growing,” sports director Kim Andersen adds. “For the moment, the first three or four places are probably taken, but another top-five in a grand tour is a really serious goal to have. And then if he has a really good day, he can be on the podium.”