Skjelmose: "I want to cry and lie down now, following Pogacar costs me the entire race"

Mattias Skjelmose had set his sights on the Ardennes, particularly La Doyenne. However, the Dane had a poor dress rehearsal after suffering severe hypothermia at La Flèche Wallonne. The day before Liège-Bastenaken-Luik, Skjelmose spoke words of encouragement, but in the final, he ultimately fell short by a few percentages to compete for the much-desired podium.

Speaking to Danish media right after the finish, the climber appeared deeply distraught in front of the microphone. "This week has been a huge disappointment. Right now, I just want to lie down and cry; it’s very hard to take. I declared my ambitions, but I need to go back to the drawing board. Everything was going as expected, and when Tadej made his move, I tried to follow him. I never recovered from that. Maybe I dreamed too big and forgot what kind of champion Tadej is. Trying to follow him cost me my entire race. If you fly too close to the sun, you get burned."

Skjelmose ultimately finished 28th at the finish line in Liège, while his teammate Bauke Mollema did a bit better, placing thirteenth. Speaking to IDLProCycling.com among others, the ever-cheerful Groninger commented on his performance. "It was a tough race, but especially very cold. Luckily, I dressed warmly. It was somewhat of a war of attrition, with Pogacar clearly being the strongest. At least, from what I could see from my position! Within our team, Skjelmose mentioned that he wasn’t feeling very good and that I could do my own thing. I think that went pretty well. The sprint was a bit strange, but I can’t complain."

A cheerful Mollema indicates that he enjoyed his day in Wallonia. "Actually, yes! I felt quite fresh in the finale and managed to maintain my position almost all the time. I’m satisfied with my condition because I could keep pushing continuously. That's a nice realization, especially since last year didn't go so well. 2023 was a tough year. At my age, this is a nice result," jokes Mollema, who concludes by sharing that he will take some rest before heading to altitude training, the Tour of Switzerland, the National Championships, and then possibly the Tour de France. "I'm on the longlist. I would really like to go, but I'm also realistic. There will be a sprint train for Mads Pedersen, while Tao Geoghegan Hart will be the leader for the general classification."