Mattias Skjelmose tastes victory in Luxembourg

Mattias Skjelmose claimed the spoils in Vianden after a hard day of racing which saw a serious GC shake up, and Skjelmose ending the day as the new race leader. A challenging circuit had the peloton contend with three ascents of Montée de Niklosbierg and coupled with attacks from Søren Kragh Andersen, was enough to blow the race apart. A select group formed at the front of the race, including Skjelmose and teammate Toms Skujins.

A late attack by Marc Hirshi [Tudor] looked promising, but he was caught in the final kilometer on the uphill slog to the finish thanks to work from Skujins. Skjelmose waited patiently on the wheel of Brandon McNulty, making his move in the final 150 meters and holding off Jegat [Totalenergies] to the finish line.

“It was a difficult final, everyone knew if you attacked early then you would have the motorbike and Marc (Hirschi) was really good, he was really strong and it was difficult to catch him back. Luckily Brandon [McNulty] started his sprint early and I could overtake in the last moment. Toms did super good today, we spoke earlier because I wasn’t feeling super and I asked him if he could win and he said ‘no, we go all in for you’. He delivered me perfectly and then I just had to execute the plan in the end. It will be difficult tomorrow in the TT to keep the leaders jersey but we’ll do what we can and hopefully we can win the race”.