Mattias Skjelmose

Skjelmose was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and grew up on Amager. He started cycling at local club Amager Cykle Ring, where he rode between 2012 and 2016.[6]

Skjelmose finished second at the 2017 Danish National Road Race Championships junior category. At the Peace Race Juniors in 2018, he finished second behind Remco Evenepoel.[7] The same year he finished third at the Paris–Roubaix Juniors. On 26 May 2018, Skjelmose won an individual time trial in the Tour du Pays de Vaud, and later that same day, he also finished 22nd in a regular road stage. The following day, he concluded by winning the overall classification of the Swiss junior stage race.[8]

On 26 May 2018, during the Tour du Pays de Vaud, a doping test conducted on Skjelmose revealed traces of the substance methylhexanamine, a performance-enhancing drug prohibited during competitions. He claims that it originated from one of the dietary supplements he had taken.[9][10] After the case was processed by the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF), he was sentenced to a ten-month suspension by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) for violating anti-doping regulations. He initiated the suspension on 7 July 2018, and the suspension lasted until 6 May 2019. Skjelmose was only 17 years old at the time of the positive doping test. Therefore, the Danish Cycling Federation (DCU) did not expect to see his name or the verdict in the media, as they had previously been informed by the UCI that the verdict would not be made public.[11]

In 2020, Skjelmose initially joined the UCI Continental team Leopard TOGT Pro Cycling in the senior category and later became a trainee for the UCI WorldTeam Trek-Segafredo towards the end of the season.[9] He was subsequently offered a professional contract for the seasons starting in 2021.[12][13] In his first season with Trek, he finished sixth overall in the UAE Tour, a UCI World Tour stage race. In the Tour of Norway, he finished seventh in the general classification and won the young rider classification. At the beginning of the 2022 season, he finished second on the final stage of the Tour de la Provence, a mountain finish, which propelled him to third place overall and earned him the title of the best young rider.[14] That same season, he selected for his first Grand Tour, as he was named in the startlist for the Giro d'Italia.[15] He achieved his first pro victories in the Tour de Luxembourg, where he won a stage and the overall classification.[16]

On 19 April 2023, Skjelmose finished in second place at La Flèche Wallonne, at the top of the Mur de Huy, just behind Tadej Pogačar.[17] In June 2023, he achieved his first victories in a UCI World Tour event by winning stage 3 in Villars-sur-Ollon,[18] as well as the overall classification of the Tour de Suisse, in front of Juan Ayuso and world champion Remco Evenepoel.[19][20]

In June 2023, he was named in Trek-Lidl's startlist for the Tour de France, and was seen as a wildcard for the overall classification.[21] His performances in the 2023 season were praised by Lance Armstrong: "If you're talking all day long about Vingegaard and Pogačar, who's number three... boy, I feel like he's gonna start trickling into the top."[22][23]