Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) was noticed reconning the course for Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Thursday, after fortunately avoiding severe damage within the crash that pressured him to desert La Flèche Wallonne.
Following his shock win at Amstel Gold Race final Sunday forward of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Workforce Emirates-XRG) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), it seemed like Skjelmose’s Ardennes Classics marketing campaign was about to finish when he crashed out of Wednesday’s race on a moist nook 40km from the end.
He remounted his bike earlier than abandoning, having been in seen ache on the TV broadcast and initially believing his elbow to be damaged. Later updates from the staff and Skjelmose confirmed that he’d escaped the incident comparatively unscathed with out fractures, albeit nonetheless with some ache.
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“Sadly, one other crash that ruined my possibilities on a day with good legs! However this time I can’t blame it on dangerous luck, it was 100% my very own fault that I crashed,” defined the Dane on Wednesday night by way of Instagram.
“As we got here out of the nook, I accelerated too quick, which resulted in me crashing. Perhaps I bought a bit too keen to point out off the nice legs.
“I used to be in plenty of ache proper after the crash and was momentarily afraid that my elbow was damaged. Thankfully, it now seems just like the ache was largely a mixture of being chilly and taking a tough hit within the crash.
“I’m in ache, however nothing is damaged. Due to this fact, I’m nonetheless trying ahead to racing once more on Sunday.”
The excellent news continued for Lidl-Trek when Skjelmose took half of their deliberate reconnaissance experience of the ultimate 102km set to determine Sunday’s race at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He was pictured driving up the Côte de la Redoute alongside Patrick Konrad and Thibau Nys, wrapped up in full moist gear because the rain fell in Wallonia once more.
Whereas the ache might see him lacking the proportion factors required to comply with Pogačar and Evenepoel as he did final Sunday, Skjelmose will nonetheless nonetheless be assured of manufacturing one other shock consequence simply seven days on from Amstel.
It isn’t the primary time that the chilly and moist climate has seen him come unstuck this season, with a crash on a wet day at Paris-Good additionally forcing him out of that race when his type had seemed sturdy. With a dry and sunny forecast for Sunday’s racing within the Ardennes, Skjelmose must be again in favoured circumstances.
Whether or not he can pull off one other shock in entrance of the superstars is a unique query, as each Evenepoel and Pogačar will likely be making an attempt to make sure they do not dash in opposition to the Dane as they did final week. However he should not be dominated out as the present third favorite.
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