Mattias Skjelmose's victory could bring about a new wave of resistance against Tadej Pogacar's reign: "He is not invincible - that's a morale boost for many other riders"

Mattias Skjelmose upset the big favourites of Amstel Gold Race - Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel to take the biggest victory of his career so far in a sprint against the two superhumans.

"First of all, I had expected that Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège would suit him better than Amstel. So of course we thought: 'It was just as well,'" Brian Holm tells Feltet.dk.

"The good thing about cycling is that it's hard to calculate, and yesterday the calculations were so wrong when he took down the two biggest stars in the sport," says the commentator.

For the cycling fans in Denmark, it was a surreal afternoon. Holm hopes Jonas Vingegaard was also glued to TV screen as his compatriot slayed the Slovenian phenomena. "If Vingegaard has been following, he probably thought that Pogacar could be beaten. That gives Vingegaard some hope ahead of the Tour de France. He is not invulnerable. He is also only human," says Holm.

While there is a long way till September, the climbing course of World Championships in Kigali could be a great opportunity for Skjelmose to create another magical moment. Especially if he's joined by Vingegaard. "I'm also thinking about the World Championships in Rwanda. If Skjelmose can win in Amstel, what can he do at the World Championships? Especially if Vingegaard is also racing. So a lot of possibilities open up now that he showed that level yesterday," he says.

Skjelmose had won the Tour de Suisse in 2023, does Amstel rank above it? "Winning the Tour de Suisse is absolutely exceptional. When you've seen a cycling race, you always think it's the greatest, but what will we talk about the most in 10 years?" asks Holm and continues.

"I think it's on par with winning the Tour de Suisse. What makes Amstel special is the two men he beats. If he had beaten Wout van Aert and Benoît Cosnefroy, you would have thought: 'Okay, fine, he's good.' But what makes the Amstel victory special is that he beats the two phenomena that you didn't think anyone could beat. Well, he could! And it certainly gives a lot of other riders morale boost too," he concludes.