Mattias Skjelmose enters contract year with Vuelta ambitions and hopes of Lidl-Trek stay

The 2023 season was a breakout campaign for Danish rider Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) with the 23-year-old winning the Tour de Suisse, Maryland Cycling Classic, a national road title, securing top-tens in all three Ardennes races, and making his Tour de France debut.

Now, after a chance to reset and rest the Lidl-Trek rider is aiming at a GC bid at the 2024 Vuelta a España and a new long-term contract with his American team.

“I was really happy with this year and it was unexpected. In another way, I want to perform even better because I lost the GC in races twice because of the time trial, in the Tour of Denmark and Etoile de Bessèges - Tour du Gard. That was a bit annoying but at the same time, I couldn’t have expected a season this good,” Skjelmose told GCN at Lidl-Trek’s recent training camp in Calpe, Spain.

Skjelmose’s progression, he says is down to a more professional lifestyle on and off the bike, with a nutritionist now part of his entourage and more time away at altitude camps in Andorra, where he will live in 2024.

“Mentally I’ve stepped up having done a Grand Tour last year. I’ve had a bigger training load in terms of camps and altitude. I’ve been more professional in every aspect,” he said.

On paper, his Tour de Suisse title was the biggest moment of the season, with a stage win and the overall representing his first victories in the WorldTour. However, according to the man himself, it was his national road title win in June that stood out the most.

“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,” he told GCN.

“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.”

Improvement on recovery a focus before the Vuelta a España

Next season the Vuelta a España will be Skjelmose’s main GC target. With two Grand Tours under his belt, the Dane and his American team believe it’s the right time to focus on a three-week race. According to Skjelmose he still needs to work on his recovery but he still has time on his side before the Spanish Grand Tour.

“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. 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,” he said.

© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

Mattias Skjelmose beat out the likes of Remco Evenepoel (left) and Juan Ayuso (right) at the Tour de Suisse, highlighting the level he could achieve in stage races

“I think I’m progressing at the right rate for me. We’ve purposely left out some things from training that could make me better so that I have a steady progression. Last year I started working with a nutritionist, and I started more camps. Slowly I’ll have more buttons to turn on. At some point, I’ll need to turn everything on but we’ll keep some things in hand.”

Skjelmose joined Lidl-Trek in 2020 and has already signed one contract extension in that time. With the team’s growing interest in Grand Tours coupled with serious investment from new sponsors Lidl, Skjelmose is keen to extend his stay on the team. The ball is firmly in their court at this point.

“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,” he said.

“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."