The Dane made the claim as his American team continues to stockpile Grand Tour riders, with Juan Ayuso already on board from UAE Team Emirates-XRG for 2026 and Austrian climber Félix Gall now signed for 2027.

“As far as I know, there’s nobody else on the team who is here right now who has achieved a better result at the Tour. So nobody can take that role away from me yet,” Skjelmose told reporters.

That result was a sixth place in Paris this summer, one spot ahead of Ayuso, who took seventh in his first Tour with Lidl-Trek after his high-profile move from UAE Team Emirates-XRG on a five-year deal.

Sixth in Paris, then a rough Vuelta

Skjelmose backed the two-Grand-Tour experiment as a growth exercise even though the Spanish leg did not go his way. Illness bit early, and he ended the Vuelta 13th while Enric Mas, Primož Roglič and Gall filled the podium.

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“I’m happy with my season and what I’ve delivered in the two Grand Tours. It didn’t turn into a big result at the Vuelta this time, but everyone around me has seen how I’ve been riding and how I’ve been feeling, so 13th place is a perfectly decent result,” he said.

“That has been the plan, to push the body so far that it could build something it hasn’t had before.”

The Dane also framed his current standing inside the team as earned rather than assumed.

“After the Tour, I’m more confident in the role and I trust my own abilities more,” Skjelmose said.

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A GC room that keeps getting more crowded

The leadership question is not going to get easier. Lidl-Trek confirmed on 15 September that Gall has signed a three-year contract through 2029, arriving from Decathlon CMA CGM alongside close friend and trusted lieutenant Gregor Mühlberger on a two-year deal.

Gall, 28, has just wrapped a season with two Grand Tour podiums, runner-up to Jonas Vingegaard at the Giro d’Italia and third at the Vuelta a España.

“With Lidl-Trek a new chapter in my career as a professional cyclist begins,” Gall said in the team announcement. “It is now time for me to take the next logical step.”

Managing director Andy Schleck said he believed the squad could “draw even more out of [Gall’s] potential” and praised Mühlberger’s “experience, loyalty, and dedication.”

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Add in Jordan Jegat, a top-10 Tour finisher in each of the last two editions, and the Grand Tour depth chart at Lidl-Trek reads more like a rival roster than a support cast:

• Mattias Skjelmose: 6th at the 2026 Tour de France
• Juan Ayuso: 7th at the 2026 Tour de France
• Félix Gall: 2nd at the 2026 Giro d’Italia, 3rd at the 2026 Vuelta a España
• Jordan Jegat: top-10 at the last two Tours de France
• Derek Gee-West: incoming for 2027

The 2027 Tour de France, the race Skjelmose has aimed his claim at, is scheduled for July.

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