Skjelmose on new teammate-cum-rival Ayuso: 'I don't think they brought him in as a domestique'
It was finally confirmed earlier this week that Juan Ayuso has signed with Lidl-Trek from 2026 through 2030, breaking contract with current team UAE Team Emirates-XRG with whom he was due to race another three years. While the move has been fairly long-rumoured, teammate Mattias Skjelmose was still caught a little by surprise.
“It was a bit of a strange situation," Skjelmose told Danish outlet TV 2 from Kigali, Rwanda. "I heard it pretty early without the team telling me. Anyway, it's going to be exciting. A new challenge.
"I'm going to rely on what the team told me [before]. They said they believe in me. I don't know how the arrival of Ayuso connects to that. They've been saying for a few years that they want to build a team around me, but I don't think they brought [Ayuso] in as a domestique."
Lidl-Trek sports director and fellow Dane Kim Andersen has a different perspective, as told to Feltet: "I told Mattias that it is a natural development of the team. I believe in him and he believes in himself. He is ready to go to battle. Other teams also have multiple leaders. It's up to them to show who is the strongest."
