Incredible! Mattias Skjelmose denies Tadej Pogacar & Remco Evenepoel in Amstel Gold Race thriller
Cycling
Lidl-Trek's Mattias Skjelmose has prevailed at a thrilling 2025 edition of the Amstel Gold Race. Emerging victorious from an incredible three-up sprint ahead of world champion Tadej Pogacar and Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel.
Eight riders got themselves into the breakaway of the day. Those being Michel Hessmann (Movistar Team), Rémi Cavagna (Groupama - FDJ), Robert Stannard (Bahrain - Victorious), Emiel Verstrynge (Alpecin - Deceuninck), Cedric Beullens (Lotto), Jarrad Drizners (Lotto), Jelle Johannink (Unibet Tietema Rockets) and Hartthijs de Vries (Unibet Tietema Rockets).
There was no shortage of drama for the big names early on either. Tadej Pogacar was caught out behind an early split, although the world champion's UAE Team Emirates - XRG teammates eventually managed to fix things. Then, at just over 100km to go, Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel and Thibau Nys were all caught up in a crash, although all three were soon back in the peloton.
Although the break had around 4:30 of advantage at one point, on the Cauberg with still over 80km to go, they were almost all caught by a rampant peloton, UAE-led peloton, with only Hessmann surviving. Things weren't all rosy for UAE though, as news filtered through of the abandonment of Jhonatan Narvaez. With 69km to go however, Hessmann had been swallowed up too, meaning the peloton had already regained the front of the race.
After a short calm, at around 55km to go, EF Education-EasyPost came to the front of the bunch and put in a real acceleration, jettisoning a number of riders out the back of the lead group. The first big move of the day then came from former world champion Julian Alaphilippe. Unsurprisingly, the current Rainbow Jersey Tadej Pogacar was straight on the back wheel. After the pair rode together for a short while, the UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader dropped the Frenchman with a brutally calm, seated acceleration, heading into the final 40km solo.
Although the Slovenian quickly built up a lead of around 30 seconds, the chase - a group that included the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Mattias Skjelmose, Ben Healy, Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock among others, managed to keep things relatively stable at around the half a minute mark. With Evenepoel and Skjelmose taking matter into their own hands and attacking the chase though, the gap to Pogacar actually started to drop.
On the penultimate ascent of the Cauberg, Evenepoel and Skjelmose got themselves back to around 15 seconds of Pogacar. By 10km to go, it was only 10 seconds and Pogacar couldn't stop looking behind. Could the unthinkable really be happening? Was a Tadej Pogacar attack being reeled back in? With 8km to go, it became a reality and immediately Evenepoel tried to slingshot straight over the top, although the world champ was aware to the danger and managed to cancel out the move.
With nearly 40 seconds lead as the reached the final Cauberg, the podium looked locked. Which order would they finish though? Through the Flamme Rouge they were still all together at the front, and as they started playing cat and mouse, the chase was closing. In the sprint it was the incredible Mattias Skjelmose who prevailed ahead of the world champion and the Olympic champion!
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Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Are you MrMauMau 2.0? Nothing you are saying is really relevant. Vaguely connected, but irrelevant. The conversation is whether Schreiber impeded Brand or not.
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
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parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
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