{"id":121872,"date":"2025-09-05T23:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T23:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/121872\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T23:48:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T23:48:09","slug":"lidl-treks-gameplan-ahead-of-maryland-cycling-classic-is-to-make-things-hard-for-everyone-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/121872\/","title":{"rendered":"Lidl-Trek’s Gameplan Ahead of Maryland Cycling Classic Is To Make Things Hard For Everyone Else"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lidl-Trek riders Mattias Skjelmose and Quinn Simmons were just the right amount of candid ahead of tomorrow’s Maryland Cycling Classic. \n<\/p>\n

\"While<\/p>\n

While Skjelmose is in a different jersey, Simmons and Skjelmose are still a common pairing at races for Lidl-Trek. (Photo: David Ramos\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Updated September 5, 2025 04:53PM<\/p>\n

Both Quinn Simmons<\/a> and Mattias Skjelmose<\/a> have blonde hair. They both race for Lidl-Trek. They are also here at the Maryland Cycling Classic<\/a> to compete for the win.<\/p>\n

But the similarities generally stop there. The Lidl-Trek leading duo for the short North American swing of the calendar cut vastly different figures: Simmons with his \u201cAmerican Muscle\u201d persona and wrestler-inspired facial hair, Skjelmose a Scandinavian with a smaller frame and eyeglasses.<\/p>\n

They also have vastly different strengths. Simmons is a powerhouse who can pull all day and produce more kilojoules than most. Skjelmose is a punchy climber who is quickly rising through the ranks of the world\u2019s best one-day racers. Yet, after three weeks of altitude training together in Simmons Durango, Colorado, home,\u00a0 the two seem to have found some synergy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could easily do three camps a year over there,\u201d Skjelmose said of his stint with Simmons in Durango. \u201cThe minus of traveling so long is made up for by all of the nice training roads. The cars are nice, the views are good \u2014 we had a day where we went to Telluride, had dinner there and then went back home the next day.\u00a0 It was one of the best rides of my life, so I really will be looking forward to coming back.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter three weeks of training and seeing each other every day, we\u2019ve got each other back. I don\u2019t always find this with other riders, so I really hope we can help each other. I have a really good feeling going into these races.\u201d<\/p>\n

The good vibes and good miles of the two-up camp are rolling straight into an intense block of racing for the two LidlTrek riders starting on Saturday on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland, with 107 miles of punchy riding around a tight urban circuit on tap.<\/p>\n

\"BERG<\/a>BERG EN TERBLIJT, NETHERLANDS \u2013 APRIL 20: Mattias Skjelmose of Denmark and Team Lidl \u2013 Trek celebrates at the podium as race winner during the 59th Amstel Gold Race 2025, a 255.9km one-day race from Maastricht to Berg en Terblijt \/ #UCIWT \/ on April 20, 2025, in Berg en Terblijt, Netherlands. (Photo: Photo by Dario Belingheri\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The race is going to be less selective compared to years past, without the hilly run through Baltimore County to start the action, which Skjelmose said he didn\u2019t particularly like. Nevertheless, the changes could help the ambition of Simmons, who could use the presence of the Dane to play a more aggressive role.<\/p>\n

All of that will be bolstered by Simmons\u2019 motivation to win the biggest race in the United States in the US national champion kit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t race much in the US other than the Nationals,\u201d Simmons said of the opportunity to race in the US.\u00a0 \u201cThis will be the only race in the US for all of us, so it\u2019s super nice to be here and not to fly to Europe to race bike is quite nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I put that jersey on, I feel the pressure to perform because it is a special chance to wear it for the whole year and I want to make the most of it and especially at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe circuit format changes it, the run in made it a super hard race.<\/p>\n

We always came into this final circuit with only ten guys, so it\u2019ll be a different game starting with the whole field out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Skjelmose and Simmons are undoubtedly looking forward to the WorldTour races next week in Canada, the Rwanda Road World Championships, and Il Lombardia to close the season, Maryland is nonetheless an opportunity to grab a win if they play their cards right.<\/p>\n

Or, as Skjelmose says: \u201cWe have this saying, f**k it, we ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have nothing to lose, we just have to find the legs for Quebec and Montreal. It would be super if we win and if we don\u2019t I promise you we will make it hard for everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lidl-Trek riders Mattias Skjelmose and Quinn Simmons were just the right amount of candid ahead of tomorrow’s Maryland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,68224,85,85817,85818,85819,67883],"class_list":["post-121872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-parent_category-road","tag-sports","tag-tag-maryland-cycling-classic","tag-tag-mattias-skjelmose","tag-tag-quinn-simmons","tag-type-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}