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Mattias Skjelmose: The Blonde Assassin

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He is most definitely riding GC at the Tour, the whole season has been leading up to that.

He may fail, but if he was not to try it now, after winning TdS, then when?
If he wants to try his hand at GT GCs, the Tour is the absolute worst GT for him this year - the Giro has a lot of TT whereas the Tour has a pseudo-MTT and nothing else, while the Vuelta mountain stages should suit him a little better than the Tour's. And considering that Evenepoel, Roglic and Ayuso are skipping the Tour too, it's not like he would have been dodging the best riders in the world by doing either.

Look, I know it makes sense to test himself as a GT GC rider at his age, but I'm not excited by him as a GT prospect and even less excited by him doing a GC bid at this Tour, whereas I would be somewhat excited by him as a stage hunter. That's all.
 
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If he wants to try his hand at GT GCs, the Tour is the absolute worst GT for him this year - the Giro has a lot of TT whereas the Tour has a pseudo-MTT and nothing else, while the Vuelta mountain stages should suit him a little better than the Tour's. And considering that Evenepoel, Roglic and Ayuso are skipping the Tour too, it's not like he would have been dodging the best riders in the world by doing either.

Him doing GC at the Tour this year, has been set in stone since the route became public.

It's not something either he or the team has wavered on or would change their mind on, especially now.

In the end you might be right, but there is also a chance you are wrong, which is why they are giving it a shot.

I applaud the courage.

The first 9 days of the Tour will tell us a lot, it has 3 tough mountain stages. If he is in or close to top 10 on the first rest day, Trek made the right choice.
 
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Okay, Cycling Weekly, what have you got to say to your defense?

Since joining Trek-Segafredo as a stagiaire in 2020, young Swiss Matthias Skjelmose's star has risen fast.


Just because Denmark is doing quite well in cycling these days, doesn't mean our riders are up for graps.
 
Okay, Cycling Weekly, what have you got to say to your defense?




Just because Denmark is doing quite well in cycling these days, doesn't mean our riders are up for graps.
Ah, now I understand the Trek mix up: He simply finished 3rd in the Swiss championship.

But if it means Marlen Reusser and Elise Chabbey have suddenly become Danish, I have no complaints.
 
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"Smart" riding, ultra-conservative and looking for everyone else but himself to do anything

This is really a lame comment. You can criticise people all you want for riding defensively if they have been competitive at the top level for a while but to criticise someone who for the very first time has a shot at winning one of the big one-week races is just ridiculous.
 
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This is really a lame comment. You can criticise people all you want for riding defensively if they have been competitive at the top level for a while but to criticise someone who for the very first time has a shot at winning one of the big one-week races is just ridiculous.
Well hey, I didnt think how he approached that particular stage was very smart, but the winner is always right. At the very end he began taking some responsiblity, and he better, because otherwise Ayuso would have won the overall. I think he focused a bit too much on Remco, and you can disagree with that, but I don't think my analysis was wrong or lame at all. He approached the race super conservatively, and in the end he won, but that might as well have costed him the race.
 
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You can hear him pronounce it here, where it sounds like he doesn't drop the j:

View: https://youtu.be/V1QoSvNa0F8?t=29
Myeah, but does he pronounce it correctly? If we were to go by how people pronounce their own names... It has led people to pronounce a guy with a German name, Voeckler, like Leclerc with a V. About half the Belgian pro cyclists come from "a specific part of the country" which by definition means they are unable to correctly pronounce their own name when it includes certain letters. Or people mispronouncing their names due to it being written in ancient spelling, and trying to pronounce it by current spelling rules.
 
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Myeah, but does he pronounce it correctly? If we were to go by how people pronounce their own names... It has led people to pronounce a guy with a German name, Voeckler, like Leclerc with a V. About half the Belgian pro cyclists come from "a specific part of the country" which by definition means they are unable to correctly pronounce their own name when it includes certain letters. Or people mispronouncing their names due to it being written in ancient spelling, and trying to pronounce it by current spelling rules.
Especially his dropping the last e is a very Copenhagenish thing to do. I would never say it like that.
 
Myeah, but does he pronounce it correctly? If we were to go by how people pronounce their own names... It has led people to pronounce a guy with a German name, Voeckler, like Leclerc with a V. About half the Belgian pro cyclists come from "a specific part of the country" which by definition means they are unable to correctly pronounce their own name when it includes certain letters. Or people mispronouncing their names due to it being written in ancient spelling, and trying to pronounce it by current spelling rules.

I think it's pretty fair to go by how people pronounce their own name ;)
 
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WTF, he is dropping the k - now the confusion is complete :D :D :D
The sound quality isn't great, unfortunately.

Myeah, but does he pronounce it correctly? If we were to go by how people pronounce their own names... It has led people to pronounce a guy with a German name, Voeckler, like Leclerc with a V. About half the Belgian pro cyclists come from "a specific part of the country" which by definition means they are unable to correctly pronounce their own name when it includes certain letters. Or people mispronouncing their names due to it being written in ancient spelling, and trying to pronounce it by current spelling rules.
Yeah, we all now how you feel about this particular topic ;)
 
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