Having become the first Latvian ever to wear one of the famed leaders' jerseys in the early stages of the Tour, Skujiņs has had a busy debut tour ever since, helping his Trek-Segafredo teammates, recording a fifth-placed finish in one stage and steadily climbing the top 100 riders as other competitors fade away or retire, exhausted from one of sport's most gruelling events.
Through it all he seems to have kept his sense of humour, declaring day after day via social media that "the real tour starts today" despite considerable evidence it started a couple of weeks ago.
The real #TDF2018 starts today. There's 50 races within the race now. People racing for top10s, team classification et la. Tactics get complicated. Who'll get stuck chasing? #TourDeTFS
— Toms Skujiņš (@Tomashuuns) July 26, 2018
As Stage 18 sets off today from Trie-sur-Baise to finish 171km later in Pau, Skujiņš lies in 83rd place in the general classification, 53rd in the Green Jersey points competition and 33rd in the Polka Dot Jersey king of the mountains classification.
Another rider from the Baltic states, Estonia's Tanel Kangert currently lies in 20th position in the general classification.
The tour concludes July 29 with the traditional finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
#throwbackthursday
— Toms Skujiņš (@Tomashuuns) July 26, 2018
I can almost start to see Paris, but day 9 is still fresh in my mind. Will never forget
Dirty faces win races pic.twitter.com/9VeHGHYTK3