Mattias Skjelmose: The Blond Assassin

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He said his mistake was trying to follow Pogacar.
Well, that's one way of putting things, because he didn't leave Healy's wheel and not even tried to follow Carapaz. He put is face in the wind a whole 2 seconds trying to leave Healy's wheel and was immediately passed by the rest of the 1st chasing group.

Just not good enough, but the way he speaks of himself makes me feel like is an excellent contender for the most overrated rider, in this case by himself.
 
Skjelmose gives it the old "Icarus Syndrome" ...

"Skjelmose does however, seem to realise the reason things went wrong for him. "Everything went as expected and when Tadej went I tried to follow. I never recovered from that. Maybe I dreamed too big and forgot what kind of champion Tadej is," he assesses honestly. "Trying to follow him cost me my entire race. If you get too close to the sun, you will burn.”
 
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Skjelmose gives it the old "Icarus Syndrome" ...

"Skjelmose does however, seem to realise the reason things went wrong for him. "Everything went as expected and when Tadej went I tried to follow. I never recovered from that. Maybe I dreamed too big and forgot what kind of champion Tadej is," he assesses honestly. "Trying to follow him cost me my entire race. If you get too close to the sun, you will burn.”
Lol, what an arse. He maybe tried for a couple of seconds!

Just wasn't good enough, simple as.
 
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Well, that's one way of putting things, because he didn't leave Healy's wheel and not even tried to follow Carapaz. He put is face in the wind a whole 2 seconds trying to leave Healy's wheel and was immediately passed by the rest of the 1st chasing group.

Just not good enough, but the way he speaks of himself makes me feel like is an excellent contender for the most overrated rider, in this case by himself.
Yeah, i'm a bit confused myself as well. He never tried to react to Pogacar, and after about 5 seconds before he gets ahead of Healy, he gets overtaken by others like Carapaz, Lutsenko, Bernal, Vlasov. Then moments later by Van Gils, Vansevenant and half the peloton. He's been tooting his own horn a lot lately. He was in the form of his life (according to himself) at Paris Nice, even better than last year at Suisse. But he got dropped like a brick by fat Evenepoel and Jorgenson. In Fleche he had a hard time imagining anybody beating him, and now he imagined himself on the podium with Pogacar and Van der Poel, he just didn't know what order yet.

Last year he was also in perfect position behind Evenepoel when he attacked. He couldn't follow, tried to come back with his teammate Ciccone, and ended up being overtaken and left behind by Buitrago, Benoot, Martin, Healy and Madouas, to finish in a group with 8 other guys.

I think the actual explanation is twofold. First of all, he isn't as good as he thinks he is, and secondly, his body hadn't fully recovered from wednesday. Because i do believe, if he were fit and healthy he should have been able to follow Pidcock and Vansevenant, who had already wasted quite a bit of energy in the chase after the crash earlier in the race.
 
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People wonder why Skjelmose is going on holiday now after showing good form lately. Perhaps Lidl-Trek regard him as a Vuelta 2024 winner, but as the season has been so far, the Vuelta may prove hard to win.

There has also been criticism of the timing with regard to the Olympics.
 
Skjelmose posted this
GmHPvEKbcAArgTw


After a strong showing and 5th overall in the Vuelta, he had to abandon the Worlds and end his season last year because of a back injury:

View: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAtpKxGs7zP


I had been looking forward to the last part of the season with several big races, but a sudden and severe pain in my back the morning before the Worlds has put an end to my season. After thorough examinations of my back and an MRI scan, I have been diagnosed with two herniated discs.
When he yesterday says he has a back injury, it could be related to his previous one.
 
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GmHPvEKbcAArgTw


After a strong showing and 5th overall in the Vuelta, he had to abandon the Worlds and end his season last year because of a back injury:

View: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAtpKxGs7zP



When he yesterday says he has a back injury, it could be related to his previous one.
I don't think so to be honest unless he developed some herniated disk.
Edit: wow, I didn't know he had 2 so probably he is suffering from those.
 
GmHPvEKbcAArgTw


After a strong showing and 5th overall in the Vuelta, he had to abandon the Worlds and end his season last year because of a back injury:

View: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAtpKxGs7zP



When he yesterday says he has a back injury, it could be related to his previous one.

That crash in Paris-Nice could have been easily avoided if the organisers put someone with a flag or warning sign.

It was such an innocuous road furniture.
 
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