Test of character for Skjelmose at Tour de Suisse

There were two question marks that Mattias Skjelmose brought with him to the start of the sixth stage of the Tour de Suisse today. The first concerned the unpredictability of the race because, due to the closure of the Nufenenpass as a consequence of bad weather, the route was shortened to just 42km with an uphill finish.

The second question mark concerned yesterday’s stage, where the talented Dane was unable to express himself as he wanted and, on balance, lost seconds for the GC challenge.

All doubts were dispelled kilometer after kilometer with Skjelmose sticking with the best riders in the race as they all went head to head on the climb. At the finish, Almeida and Yates (UAE) were 9 seconds ahead of Skjelly, who delivered a gutsy ride that made it clear that yesterday’s outcome was just an unexpected episode.

With two stages to go (tomorrow’s arrival in Villars-sur-Ollon is where Mattias won last year and on Sunday the ITT finishes in the same place), the situation sees Skjelmose as the best young rider and 4th in GC, at 2’24” from leader Yates and 56″ from third place, occupied by Bernal (Ineos).

It’s an important result for myself, my morale and of course for the belief that was had in me since the beginning. That was what I needed after yesterday, when I didn’t get what I expected. It didn’t have many answers on what went wrong yesterday, but I think today I proved it was only a bad day.

On an unusual stage like today, you just have to stay focused on the key moment and going full gas on the climb. Just like in the other days, the Team did a great job, leading me in the perfect position at the bottom of the climb. From there on we climbed with a strong tempo, set by Ineos, and I immediately felt comfortable. I’m proud that I always kept Yates in sight after he attacked. Being close to such strong rider in such good shape is a good takeaway. I’m now 4th in GC, I’ll do my best to jump on the podium by the end of the race.