'I just had to execute it' - Skjelmose impresses in Luxembourg before Rwanda Worlds

It’s a result and performance that bodes well for Skjelmose ahead of the upcoming World Championships road race in Rwanda, where the 24-year-old is set to lead the line for Denmark on one of the most demanding courses in recent times.

The Dane was part of a select chasing group which had formed on hilly terrain inside the final 20km, which saw the morning’s race leader, Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ), distanced. With 6.7km to go, Marc Hirschi (Tudor) launched a bold move, while Skjelmose’s teammate Toms Skujiņš (Lidl-Trek) contributed to the chase to keep the Swiss rider in check, with Hirschi using the motorbike draft to his advantage.

Skjelmose credited the performance of his Latvian teammate in his post-race interview: “He did super good in the end. I mean, we spoke about it because I wasn’t feeling super, and I asked him if he could win, and he said, ‘No, we go all for you,’ and yeah, he delivered perfectly, and then I just had to execute it in the end.”

Hirschi was within sight of the chasers on the viciously steep final climb, which included cobbled surfaces and reached gradients of over 20%. 

Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was one of the first to launch his seated acceleration as Hirschi was caught with less than 350 metres to go, while Skjelmose found the strength to punch past the American. 

Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) was able to find added reserves to jump and latch himself onto the back wheel of Skjelmose, but with one final corner to go, the Frenchman was unable to come past the Dane, who sealed his third victory of 2025.

"It was a difficult final, everybody knew if you attack early you would have the motorbike, and Marc [Hirschi] was really good, he was really strong and it was difficult to catch him back," said Skjelmose. "Luckily, Brandon [McNulty] started his sprint early and I could overtake in the last moment."

Before his attention turns to the Worlds, Skjelmose has two more stages to defend his new race lead in the Tour de Luxembourg. The Dane has a four-second advantage over Jegat in second, with McNulty third at eight seconds. McNulty looks likely to pose the biggest threat with an individual time trial on stage 4. 

McNulty is an accomplished time trial rider, winning the opening stage of the Vuelta in 2024, and recently secured the GC at the Tour de Pologne with a storming final day time trial performance to snatch the victory from Victor Langellotti (Ineos)

“It’s going to be difficult having the leader’s jersey time trial suit is a big disadvantage, but we’re going to do what we can and hopefully we can win the race," said Skjelmose, acknowledging the task at hand and the fact he will not get to wear a custom skinsuit for the event, as he has to wear an official organisation jersey as race leader.

While Skjelmose’s immediate focus will be on defending his lead in Luxembourg, this result marks a positive indication of his form and another illustration of his ability to overcome adversity, having suffered multiple crash setbacks in 2025. This win also adds to the mightily impressive Amstel Gold Race victory, where he beat Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) in a three-man sprint back in March.

Speaking of which, Skjelmose is set to fly to Rwanda shortly after the conclusion in Luxembourg, where he will line up for a Worlds where Pogačar is the standout favourite to defend his title and Evenepoel looks to most likely to challenge him. 

This victory for Skjelmose illustrates his good form, and he knows what it takes to cause an upset, but at the very least, the Dane could stand a chance of reaching the podium after 10th and 14th place finishes in 2022 and 2023, on which he impressed on both occasions. Denmark’s last medal in the elite men’s road race came back in 2021 in Leuven, Belgium, where Michael Valgren secured the bronze medal.