Goes to Mattias Skjelmose the queen stage of the 85th Tour de Luxembourg. By delivering an excellent progression in the last few hundred meters of the challenging cobblestone climb towards the Vianden castle, the site of the finish for a stage with 311 meters of elevation gain starting from Mertert, the Danish rider from Lidl-Trek got the better of Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), thus conquering the top of the general classification, taking advantage of the leader Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ)'s downfall in the final part of the race.

THE RACE. Right from the start, after a few kilometers, Silvan Dillier (Alpecin – Deceuninck), Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), Thomas Gagnichard (TotalEnergies), Ådne Holter (Uno-X-Mobility), Victor Papon, Henri-François Renard-Haquin (Wagner Bazin WB) and Joshua Gudnitz (Team ColoQuick) break away, who, with the permissive attitude behind them, reach up to six minutes of maximum advantage. At this point, the peloton decides to get to work and, by raising the pace, slowly and progressively begins to get closer.

The margin of the breakaway is still over two minutes when they approach the first of three laps of the final circuit including the tough climb of Montée de Niklosbierg where, on the first passage, Dillier, Papon and Gudnitz fail to keep up with Guglielmi, Gagnichard, Holter and Renard-Haquin. With 50 kilometers to go, a quartet remains in front with just over a minute and a half of margin on a group from which, approaching the climb, Søren Kragh Andersen (Lidl – Trek) attacks. The Danish rider's action is followed by 13 other riders (Davide Piganzoli from Polti-VisitMalta, Marco Brenner from Tudor, Urko Berrade and Diego Uriarte from Kern Pharma, Igor Arrieta, Rafal Makja and Pablo Torres from UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Tim Donnewirth from Groupama-FDJ, Oscar Chamberlain from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, Pepijn Reinderink from Soudal Quick-Step, Jasper Schoofs from Alpecin-Deceuninck and Keegan Swirbul from Efapel) who, by collaborating, manage to absorb Dillier and Papon and then launch themselves with a minute's advantage over the chasing peloton.

They quickly reach the second climb of Montée de Niklosbierg where, while the first chasing group loses some elements, in the yellow jersey group Ben Healy's acceleration mixes the cards again, favoring the emergence of a group of riders (including Marc Hirschi, Toms Skujins, Jordan Jegat, Brandon McNultu, Jhonathan Narvaez, Richard Carapaz, Mathys Rondel, Mattias Skjelmose, Aurelien Paret-Peintre and Nicolas Prodhomme but not the leader Gregoire) who quickly rejoins the riders who had escaped the previous lap. With 22 kilometers to go, Holter loses contact from the first hour's escapees, over whom UAE, dragging all the counter-attackers, manages to close during the third climb of Montée de Niklosbierg. Always here, while Gregoire tries in vain to recover solo from the men at the front, Majka whips the leading group which remains at the top with only 9 elements (Carapaz, Skjelmose, Brenner, Rondel, Jegat, McNulty, Skujins, Prodhome and Majka himself) before Berrade, Hirschi and Narvaez rejoin at -10 from the finish. At -7 km, taking advantage of the presence of two teammates among the men at the front, Hirschi tries to anticipate with a courageous attack that is however defused at 140 meters from the line thanks to the work of an immense Majka first and McNulty then. In doing so, the American from UAE runs out of energy at the crucial moment to finish the job: Skjelmose, and behind him an attacking Jegat, overtake him without mercy in the last tortuous dozens of meters where the Dane, by force, manages to contain the French rider's sprint, crossing the finish line in first position.

For Skjelmose, at his third seasonal triumph (the fourteenth of his career), the leadership of the general classification also comes, where, due to the 2'48" delay incurred by Gregoire in the final kilometers, he now leads by 4 seconds over Jegat, 8 seconds over McNulty and 12" over Hirschi, Brenner and Narvaez, all riders who, between tomorrow's time trial and the final hilly stage, remain absolutely in contention to take home the short Luxembourg stage race on Sunday.

FINISH ORDER

1. Mattias Skjelmose (DEN/Lidl-Trek) - 4:05:07

2. Jordan Jegat (FRA/TotalEnergies) - s.t.

3. Brandon McNulty (USA/UAE Emirates-XRG) at 0:02

4. Jhonatan Narváez (ECU/UAE Emirates-XRG) at 0:02

5. Marco Brenner (GER/Tudor Pro Cycling) at 0:02

6. Marc Hirschi (SUI/Tudor Pro Cycling) at 0:06

7. Nicolas Prodhomme (FRA/Decathlon-AG2R) at 0:10

8. Toms Skujins (LAT/Lidl-Trek) at 0:10

9. Richard Carapaz (ECU/EF Education-EasyPost) at 0:10

10. Mathys Rondel (FRA/Tudor Pro Cycling) at 0:13

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Mattias Skjelmose (DEN/Lidl-Trek) - 11:34:29

2. Jordan Jegat (FRA/TotalEnergies) at 0:04

3. Brandon McNulty (USA/UAE Emirates-XRG) at 0:08

4. Marc Hirschi (SUI/Tudor Pro Cycling) at 0:12

5. Marco Brenner (GER/Tudor Pro Cycling) at 0:12

6. Jhonatan Narváez (ECU/UAE Emirates-XRG) at 0:12

7. Richard Carapaz (ECU/EF Education-EasyPost) at 0:20

8. Nicolas Prodhomme (FRA/Decathlon-AG2R) at 0:20

9. Toms Skujins (LAT/Lidl-Trek) at 0:20

10. Mathys Rondel (FRA/Tudor Pro Cycling) at 0:23

OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS

Points Classification: Andrea Vendrame (ITA/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)

Mountain Classification: Mil Morang (LUX/Luxembourg)

Young Rider Classification: Mattias Skjelmose (DEN/Lidl-Trek)