Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (born 26 September 2000) is a Danish professional cyclist who rides for

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road bicycle racing, road cycling, the UCI World Tou ...

. A promising youth rider, Skjelmose finished in top positions in junior categories of major races, and won the Tour du Pays de Vaud in 2018. Shortly after, he had a setback after receiving a ten-month suspension due to a doping test revealing traces of the performance-enhancing drugs originating from dietary supplements. He returned to racing in 2019, and initially joined

UCI Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

team Leopard TOGT Pro Cycling before turning professional in 2021 with

Trek-Segafredo, after riding for the latter as a stagiare since 2020. He experienced a major breakthrough in 2023, finishing second behind

Tadej Pogačar Tadej Pogačar (; born 21 September 1998) is a Slovenia, Slovenian professional road bicycle racing, cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . His victories include three Tour de France, Tours de France (2020 Tour de France, 2020, 2021 Tou ...

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. It is part of the UCI World Tour. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is ...

, and winning the

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse () is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France, which is on the calend ...

. In 2025, he won the Amstel Gold Race.

Career

Junior career

Skjelmose was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Denmark, and grew up on

Amager Amager ( ), located in the Øresund, is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 216,000 inhabitants (January 2022). The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (including Kalvebod Fælled) makes up more than one-third of the ...

. He started cycling at local club Amager Cykle Ring, where he rode between 2012 and 2016. Skjelmose finished second at the 2017 Danish National Road Race Championships junior category. At the Peace Race Juniors in 2018, he finished second behind

Remco Evenepoel Remco Evenepoel (; born 25 January 2000) is a Belgian professional cyclist and Olympic gold medalist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . Evenepoel is widely regarded as one of the best Individual time trial, time trialists of his generation; he is a t ...

. The same year he finished third at the Paris–Roubaix Juniors. On 26 May 2018, Skjelmose won an

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

in the Tour du Pays de Vaud, and later that same day, he also finished 22nd in a regular road stage. The following day, he concluded by winning the overall classification of the Swiss junior stage race.

2018 doping case

On 26 May 2018, during the Tour du Pays de Vaud, a doping test conducted on Skjelmose revealed traces of the substance

methylhexanamine Methylhexanamine (also known as methylhexamine, 1,3-dimethylamylamine, 1,3-DMAA, dimethylamylamine, and DMAA; trade names Forthane and Geranamine) is an indirect sympathomimetic drug invented and developed by Eli Lilly and Company and marketed ...

, a performance-enhancing drug prohibited during competitions. He claims that it originated from one of the dietary supplements he had taken. After the case was processed by the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF), he was sentenced to a ten-month suspension by the

Union Cycliste Internationale The Union Cycliste Internationale (; UCI; ) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing licenses to riders and enforces di ...

(UCI) for violating anti-doping regulations. He initiated the suspension on 7 July 2018, and the suspension lasted until 6 May 2019. Skjelmose was only 17 years old at the time of the positive doping test. Therefore, the Danish Cycling Federation (DCU) did not expect to see his name or the verdict in the media, as they had previously been informed by the UCI that the verdict would not be made public.

Professional career

In 2020, Skjelmose initially joined the

team Leopard TOGT Pro Cycling in the senior category and later became a trainee for the

Trek-Segafredo towards the end of the season. He was subsequently offered a professional contract for the seasons starting in 2021. In his first season with Trek, he finished sixth overall in the UAE Tour, a

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ranking system based upon perfor ...

stage race. In the Tour of Norway, he finished seventh in the general classification and won the young rider classification. At the beginning of the 2022 season, he finished second on the final stage of the Tour de la Provence, a mountain finish, which propelled him to third place overall and earned him the title of the best young rider. That same season, he selected for his first Grand Tour, as he was named in the startlist for the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

. He achieved his first pro victories in the

Tour de Luxembourg The Tour de Luxembourg is an annual stage race in professional road bicycle racing held in Luxembourg. The Tour de Luxembourg is classified as a UCI race classifications, 2.Pro race, the highest rating below the UCI World Tour, World Tour, by the ...

, where he won a stage and the overall classification.

2023

On 19 April 2023, Skjelmose finished in second place at

, at the top of the Mur de Huy, just behind

. In June 2023, he achieved his first victories in a UCI World Tour event by winning stage 3 in

Villars-sur-Ollon Villars-sur-Ollon, commonly referred to as Villars, is a village in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, part of the municipality of Ollon. Description Geography and skiing network Villars overlooks the Rhône valley from an altitude of . Th ...

, as well as the overall classification of the

, in front of Juan Ayuso and world champion

. In June 2023, he was named in Trek-Lidl's startlist for the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

, and was seen as a wildcard for the overall classification. His performances in the 2023 season were praised by

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He achieved international fame for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times fro ...

: "If you're talking all day long about Vingegaard and Pogačar, who's number three... boy, I feel like he's gonna start trickling into the top."

2024

In 2024, Skjelmose finished fourth in the 2024 Paris–Nice; he won Stage 6 after outsprinting two other riders who were part of a three-man breakaway. In April, he placed third overall in the Tour of the Basque Country.

2025

On 20 April 2025, he beat pre-race favourites Tadej Pogacar and

in a sprint finish to win the 2025 Amstel Gold Race.

Major results

;2017 : 1st Mountains classification, Course de la Paix Juniors : 2nd Road race, National Junior Road Championships : 5th Overall Internationale Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt der Junioren ;2018 : 1st Overall Tour du Pays de Vaud ::1st Stage 3b ( ITT) : 2nd Overall Course de la Paix Juniors : 3rd Paris–Roubaix Juniors ;2019 : 3rd Fyen Rundt : 4th

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

, National Under-23 Road Championships ;2021 : 5th Overall

Tour de l'Ain Tour de l'Ain, also known as the Prix de l'Amitié, is an annual professional cycling stage race held in eastern France. G.P. de l'Amitié The first edition of the race was in 1970, as the G.P. de l'Amitié (Friendship G.P.). It was held over f ...

: 6th Overall UAE Tour : 7th Overall Tour of Norway ::1st Young rider classification : 8th Overall

Danmark Rundt Danmark Rundt is a Danish multi-day professional road cycling race. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, PostNord, and the race is therefore also known as PostNord Danmark Rundt. The race is sometimes called the Tou ...

;2022 (2 pro wins) : 1st Overall

::1st Young rider classification ::1st Stage 4 ( ITT) : 2nd Overall

::1st Points classification ::1st Young rider classification : 3rd

, National Road Championships : 3rd Overall Tour de la Provence ::1st Young rider classification : 3rd Overall

: 3rd Overall

Tour de Wallonie The Tour de Wallonie is a stage race cycling race on the UCI Europe Tour. It runs in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium in the end of July. Between 1974 and 1995 it was reserved to amateurs. Since 2005, the race has been organized as a ...

: 5th Overall

Route d'Occitanie The Route d'Occitanie is a road bicycle race with 4 stages held annually in Southern France. It was first held in 1977 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually held a week before the Tour de France. ...

: 8th

Clásica de San Sebastián The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa — Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián (San Sebastián Classic) is a one-day professional men's bicycle road race in northern Spain that has been held every summer since 1981 in San Sebastián. It is the m ...

: 10th Road race,

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...

;2023 (7) : National Road Championships ::1st Road race ::2nd

: 1st Overall

::1st Young rider classification ::1st Stage 3 : 1st Maryland Cycling Classic : 2nd Overall

Étoile de Bessèges The Étoile de Bessèges () is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a ...

::1st Young rider classification ::1st Stage 4 : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 3 : 2nd

: 3rd Ardèche Classic : 3rd

GP Miguel Induráin The Grand Prix Miguel Induráin (), formerly the "Grand Prix Navarre" is a Spanish one-day road bicycle race. History The race was inaugurated in 1951, but was limited to local competition. It was rebranded after Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurái ...

: 5th Overall Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var ::1st Points classification ::1st Stage 2 : 6th La Drôme Classic : 8th Amstel Gold Race : 9th

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège , also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Cycling monument, Monuments'' of the Eur ...

: 9th Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal : 10th Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec ;2024 (1) : 3rd Overall

::1st Young rider classification : 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country : 3rd Ardèche Classic : 4th Overall

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

::1st Stage 6 : 5th Overall

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

::1st Young rider classification : 5th La Drôme Classic ;2025 (1) : 1st Amstel Gold Race : 2nd La Drôme Classic : 5th Overall Tour of the Basque Country : 6th Ardèche Classic

General classification results timeline

Classics results timeline

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skjelmose, Mattias 2000 births Living people Danish male cyclists Cyclists from Copenhagen Tour de Suisse stage winners Doping cases in cycling Danish sportspeople in doping cases People from Amager Cyclists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Denmark 21st-century Danish sportsmen