"They’ve been rivals until now" – Lidl-Trek DS confirms Juan Ayuso & Mattias Skjelmose have buried the hatchet after media storm

After weeks of speculation about tension inside Lidl-Trek’s newly-assembled GC dream team, sports director Kim Andersen has confirmed that Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose have now cleared the air following the announcement of the Spaniard’s high-profile transfer from UAE Team Emirates - XRG.

Speaking to Feltet.dk, Andersen revealed that the pair sat down during the team’s recent pre-season camp in Germany to resolve the misunderstandings that had spilled into the media earlier this autumn.

“Yes, they have,” Andersen said when asked if the two had talked things through. “They’ve been rivals until now, but that’s how professional sport works. You’re competitors until you’re teammates. It’s all about being able to adapt. It’s going to be very exciting.”

The episode began when Skjelmose publicly admitted surprise over Ayuso’s signing — and frustration at the way he had been informed about it. Having been told repeatedly that Lidl-Trek wanted to “build a team around him”, the Dane questioned how the arrival of another GC leader might fit into that vision.

Ayuso responded calmly at the time, saying he could “understand a certain frustration” but stressed that top-tier teams “can’t rely on only one leader”. What followed was a media storm driven by translation errors and headlines that amplified the rift — something Andersen now insists has been resolved internally.

“It was a mix of things taken from different places, some of it poorly translated into English, and it turned into a bit of a mess that wasn’t particularly clever,” Andersen admitted. “But we’ve turned the page, and things are looking very positive.”

According to the Danish DS, Ayuso has been “received very, very warmly” by his new teammates and fitted in immediately at the squad’s recent camp, where Lidl-Trek also finalised new ownership details.

While peace has been restored, questions about leadership hierarchy for 2026 remain open. Andersen confirmed that no race programmes have yet been finalised, meaning it’s unclear whether Ayuso and Skjelmose will share Grand Tour duties or alternate leadership roles.

Those decisions, he said, will be made “by the sporting management in the coming weeks”.

For now, Lidl-Trek appear intent on focusing on unity rather than rivalry — a necessary reset as the team looks to step up into cycling’s top echelon with two of the peloton’s brightest Grand Tour GC prospects finally on the same side.