Skjelmose turns pale after hearing Ayuso's program: "I was told I was the only leader"

A striking moment at Lidl-Trek’s media day. During the press conference, Mattias Skjelmose learned to his own disappointment that Juan Ayuso will also be starting in the Ardennes classics in 2026. "This is new to me," he said. "No, I wasn’t told that. I was told that I would be the sole team leader going to the Ardennes."

Like all other team leaders at Lidl-Trek, Skjelmose announced his 2026 program. The Dane will ride the Tour of the Basque Country, with the Ardennes classics and the World Championships in Canada as his main goals. He is on the longlist for the Tour de France, whereas he had previously indicated he would lead the team at the Giro. That is no longer the case.

"I want to perform well in the Ardennes, and that doesn’t fit anymore with a high GC at the Giro. I wanted to go to the Giro, but the team decided otherwise. Then we came up with a plan where Ayuso leads the Tour de France and I take on the Ardennes classics. I immediately said: let’s do that. The Ardennes classics are my favorite races, and since I rode the Amstel Gold Race this year, the choice was easy."

That’s when the press conference turned tense. Skjelmose was asked if he knew Ayuso would also be racing the Ardennes classics. "No, not that I know," he replied, and was then asked if this was new information for him. "Yes, this is new to me. I also can’t answer whether he will be supporting me there because I wasn’t told. I was told I would be the sole leader in the Ardennes classics."

Finally, Skjelmose was asked what he thinks about starting the Ardennes classics alongside Ayuso. "That’s going to be fun. I think this will be our next conversation with the team," he concluded.