Skjelmose faces disrupted build up ahead of Amstel title defence

The defending champion has been dealing with a cold after a demanding week in Spain, though Lidl-Trek are not overly concerned ahead of Sunday.

“It’s not ideal, of course,” said sports director Kim Andersen to Feltet.dk. “But there are still a few days, and everything seems under control. We expect him to recover.”

Despite finishing 14th overall, the team sees more positives than the result suggests. Internally, there is little doubt about where Skjelmose stands.

“If you take that one stage out, there’s nothing to suggest he isn’t where he should be,” Andersen said. “On his good days, he was right there.”

That one difficult stage came on day five, when Skjelmose suddenly lost contact with the front group.

“He was still close at the top of the climb, maybe 20 seconds down, and then it just went,” Andersen said. “After that there wasn’t much cooperation, but he also simply ran out of energy. We don’t really have an explanation.”

The Basque race formed part of a slightly different approach this spring. Skjelmose combined the Volta a Catalunya with the Itzulia Basque Country, something he had not done before.

“He had trained for quite a long time, so we wanted him to race in Catalonia as well,” Andersen explained. “It’s a different build up, but we’re comfortable with it.”

Last year, Skjelmose took victory in the Amstel Gold Race after outsprinting Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel. With Pogačar not expected to start this time, the race could open up, although Evenepoel and Tom Pidcock are set to be among the leading contenders.

“There are good riders, of course, but it doesn’t look completely out of reach,” Andersen said. “It should be quite open.”

As for tactics, the team is keeping its cards close to its chest.

“We have a plan,” Andersen said. “But we’re keeping that to ourselves.”