Skjelmose's illness woes continue with Suisse DNS
Mattias Skjelmose's Tour de France prep is decidedly not going to plan. The Amstel Gold Race winner was ruled out of this week's Critérium du Dauphiné due to illness, and that continuing complication has now knocked Plan B – next week's Tour de Suisse – off the calendar as well.
The culprit: a persistent and somewhat mysterious stomach infection, which receded but then came back briefly. "There's just not enough time to get back to the level I want to reach," he told Wielerflits. "The focus is now on recovering, finding my rhythm again and building what I have lost. From now on, it's all about being ready for the Tour de France."
Skjelmose said there's no panic. "This is not the first time things have not gone according to plan – and it will not be the last time either," he said. The 24-year-old Lidl-Trek rider, who finished fifth overall in last year's Vuelta a España, said he is still focused on being ready for the Tour. [Wielerflits]
