Lidl-Trek and Mads Pedersen will be down a key man at this year's Spring Classics, with Latvian champion Toms Skujiņš announcing on Sunday that a bout of illness has left him requiring more time to recover.
The 34-year-old pulled out of Paris-Nice before the fifth stage after getting sick on the brutally wet day to Uchon, and has not raced – or really trained, by his own admission – since then. He will reset now for the summer and the Grand Tours, having raced seven of the last eight Tours de France.
"For the first time in 10+ years I won't be doing any spring classics. Definitely gutted, but also quite impressed that I have made such a long stint in our sport where crashes and sickness are always part of the game," said Skujiņš via his Instagram.
"Got proper sick at Paris-Nice and haven't ridden much since coming back home early. Will definitely try to make the most of it, recover and get the body ready for the rest of the year. Still many goals out there this season.
"On the bright side I will get to watch more bike racing on TV than previous years and cheer on the Lidl-Trek squad."
As someone who excels once the races get harder, Skujiņš has shared his time in the past decade between the Flemish cobbled races and the hilly Ardennes Classics, supporting the likes of Pedersen and Mattias Skjelmose along the way.
Aside from his versatility, longer courses that riders endure, such as at the Tour of Flanders, where he has finished 10th before, bring the best out of Skujiņš, able to sustain his efforts as others fall by the wayside.
Just last year, he finished fifth in both the Rwanda World Championships road race and the stacked European Championships in France, and a year prior, was fifth in the Paris Olympic Games road race and fourth at Worlds in Zurich.
While he is a big loss, Lidl-Trek thankfully do have their talisman, Pedersen, back for the upcoming cobbled races, which kick off properly this week at the E3 Saxo Classic and renamed Gent-Wevelgem.
Pedersen returned to racing from two broken bones with a bang at Milan-San Remo on Saturday, having joined the start list as a late surprise entry, finishing fourth from the chasing group in the sprint and not far behind winner Tadej Pogačar.
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