“This is the most power I ever produced on the TT bike" - Mathias Skjelmose delighted after positive start to 2024 Vuelta a Espana

One of those considered a dark horse for the general classification at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana, Mathias Skjelmose made a very strong start to the Spanish Grand Tour on Saturday afternoon, in the stage 1 individual time trial around Lisbon.

Stopping the clock with the 13th fastest time on the day, in terms of Red Jersey contenders, only Primoz Roglic and Joao Almeida set a faster time than the former Tour de Suisse winning Dane. As such, there is plenty of reason for early optimism for Skjelmose and Lidl-Trek after the opening stage of the 2024 Vuelta a Espana.

“This is the most power I ever produced on the TT bike," reflected a delighted Skjelmose in a post-stage interview with his team's official website. "It was a great performance and I’m happy with the result. For now, I don’t think I could have gone any faster."

Despite the positives he can take from this start however, Skjelmose isn't getting to far ahead of himself. After all, it's only one day down in a three week stage race. "It’s always good to start in a good way. In Denmark we say ‘A good start is half the job finished’, so we did well now, and we just have 20 stages to go,” the 23-year-old concludes.