"The Tour de France is the ultimate goal, for me and any rider like me" - Mattias Skjelmose to race 2024 Vuelta a Espana for GC in search of experience

Mattias Skjelmose is one of the strong and most interesting stage-racers in development but we do not know yet if he will be able to develop into a Grand Tour rider. In 2024 he will race the Vuelta a Espana fully focused on a proper preparation, as he looks to set up a Tour de France stint for the future.

“It’s funny because the Tour de Suisse was for sure the biggest win on paper but the important win for me was the nationals. That was such a big thing for me. It’s hard to rank them, because for my career Suisse was better, and that was an incredible result but nationals was so special because in a sport like cycling you can wear the team colours on your chest. Some of the best riders don’t get to experience that," Skjelmose admitted in an interview with GCN.

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It was a breakthrough season for the Dane who not only had a very successful June, but also finished second to Tadej Pogacar at Flèche Wallone and inside the Top10 of the Ardennes and Canadian classics, revealing his clear talent in the hilly races. He admits it was painful to lose two races' GC (Etoile de Bessèges and Tour of Denmark) in time-trialing, however he won the Tour de Suisse holding off Remco Evenepoel and Juan Ayuso which points towards his natural abilities, which make him a very dangerous stage-racer in his best day.

In 2024, he will test himself as a Grand Tour rider. “100 per cent it’s for GC. I don’t know how far away I am from a result because around day five or six in a race is when I usually struggle. I don’t know why. Actually in the Giro last year and the Tour this year, my best performances were in the last week. That’s a good sign but the problem is getting over that crisis on day five or six," he tells. "So we need to find out what’s happening there. I think it’s a recovery issue but I’ve moved to Andorra and I’ll do more altitude camps, and hopefully that will help me. The Tour de France is the ultimate goal, for me and any rider like me."

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Skjelmose is only 23 and will be in contract year. Although he is hugely talented, the presence now of more quality climbers and riders in Lidl-Trek put pressure on him to perform if he wants to stay with the American team, that has looked very sharp this season. “This is the last year of my contract. Hopefully, it’s sorted soon and it’s never nice to be on a contract year. I’m happy here and I think that the team is happy with me. I’d like to stay at least. If the team wants me here then I’d like to stay."

"I want to combine the Ardennes and the Grand Tours. That’s a possibility that looks really good to me. Of course, leading a Grand Tour team means you need special riders around you and with Lidl coming in we’ll slowly start to be a Grand Tour winning team. If I can be a Grand Tour winner, I would love it."

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