Top talents to watch out for in 2023: Mattias Skjelmose from Trek-Segafredo
Andreas Kublik
· 13.01.2023
Info about Mattias Skjelmose
- Date of birth: 26/09/2000
- Nationality: Danish
- Height/weight: 1.79 m, 65 kg
Teams
- 2020 Leopard Pro Cycling
- 2020 (from 1 August as a stagiaire) Trek-Segafredo
- 2021 Trek-Segafredo
- 2022 Trek-Segafredo
- 2023 Trek-Segafredo
- 2024 Trek-Segafredo
Mattias Skjelmose, 22 years old, Trek-Segafredo
Climbers also come from the flatlands: this was recently proven by the Dane Jonas Vingegaard, winner of the Tour de France. He is not the only climbing talent from the north. His 22-year-old compatriot Mattias Skjelmose is set to make his debut in the Tour of France this year.
He recommended himself for this at Team Trek-Segafredo with professional victories such as the overall classification of the Tour of Luxembourg, where he was also the best in the individual time trial. He proved his climbing talent at the Tour of Provence, where he finished second behind Nairo Quintana in a long mountain finish.
Skjelmose obviously likes steep climbs, although he also had a steep downhill last year: At the Tour of Catalonia, he crashed over a wall several metres into a ravine on a bend, climbed back up and shouted to his trembling companions, "I'm fine. Just give me a bike." In the end, he finished tenth on the stage.
Cycling talents: TOUR shows 10 promotion candidates for 2023
TOUR editor Andreas Kublik takes a look at ten young riders who will be worth watching in 2023. We present the individual candidates in our series. Almost all of the selected riders are already under contract with a World Tour team. Signing cyclists at a very young age is a trend that has recently caught on with the top teams.
Numerous youngsters skip the U23 class and go straight into the professional ranks. The most prominent example of this development is Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian was under contract with Deceuninck - Quick Step in 2019 at the age of just 18. Since then, he has worked his way up to the top of the world rankings, including becoming road world champion in 2022.
Many top teams also have their own junior racing team, where they train their talents and later bring them into the professional squad. A prime example of this is the Groupama-FDJ team in 2023, which has recruited all seven new riders for this year from the Equipe continentale Groupama-FDJ.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
