(Bourg-En-Bresse) BOURG-EN-Another Danish cyclist stole the show on Thursday at the Tour de France, as Kasper Asgreen joined an early breakaway before hanging on to clinch stage 18 in a sprint.
His compatriot, Jonas Vingegaard, opted for a conservative approach, content to stay in the heart of the main peloton in order to ensure that he maintained his imposing lead at the top of the general classification. The defending champion has a cushion of seven minutes and 35 seconds in front of the holder of two titles in the Grande Boucle, Tadej Pogacar, and 10: 45 in front of Adam Yates, approaching the last stage Sunday on the Champs-Élysées.
It was Asgreen’s moment, however, as he raised his arms to the sky after beating Dutchman Pascal Eenkhoorn and Norwegian Jonas Abrahamsen at the finish line.
“Our breakaway was not very well timed. I would have preferred us to be seven or eight runners. It is also one of the last stages, after a very difficult few weeks, mentioned Asgreen. I did not rule out the possibility of winning. My breakaway partners were excellent. We all deserved the win because we all worked hard in the breakaway. »
They all received the same time of four hours, six minutes and 48 seconds after repelling the attacks of an intimidating group of experienced sprinters who, however, increased the pace a little too late. Star sprinter Jasper Philipsen narrowly missed out on victory, ultimately settling for fourth place.
After Vingegaard took control of the Tour de France following a masterful performance in the Alps at the expense of Pogacar, Thursday’s stage, which was mostly flat for 185km between Moûtiers and Bourg-en-Bresse, offered some respite for the main title contenders.
Belgian Victor Campenaerts joined Asgreen and Abrahamsen to form an early breakaway.
They worked together and after about an hour they had a lead of about a minute over the rest of the peloton. The gap persisted, within a second or two, until about 100 km from the finish.
The peloton, after riding under sunny skies at a much slower pace than the day before, eventually picked up the pace.
Eenkhoorn was the next to launch an attack, and he was the only one to join the leading trio to form a foursome.
The peloton ran out of time to clear the backlog, and Asgreen pulled out all the stops to cross the finish line first. The sustained effort appeared to pain the Dane, who then sat down by the roadside to catch his breath as his Soudal Quick-Step teammates came up to him to congratulate him.
“It’s meaningful to me, especially after my crash in the Tour de Suisse earlier this year,” Asgreen said. It took me a while to get back to the top, but this victory today is the icing on the cake. »
Montrealer Guillaume Boivin distinguished himself by finishing 24th in the stage, as did his teammate Hugo Houle, from Sainte-Perpétue, who followed in 36th place with the same time as Asgreen. Ontarian Michael Woods finished in 113th place, 50 seconds behind.
In the cumulative standings, Woods is still the top representative of the Maple Leaf by virtue of his 41st place finish. His compatriots Houle and Boivin are 47th and 121st, in order.
Van Aert leaves the Tour to join his wife
Belgian rider Wout van Aert, one of the main teammates of Tour de France leader Jonas Vingegaard, left the race to join his wife Sarah in anticipation of the birth of their second child.
Van Aert, a versatile cyclist capable of winning on all terrains, has provided crucial support to Vingegaard since the start of the Tour. But as Vingegaard has created a considerable gap in the general classification, with only one difficult stage in the mountains remaining, the presence of Van Aert was not considered essential.
“As everyone knows Sarah is pregnant, things are starting to get a bit complicated at home,” Van Aert said in a video posted by his Jumbo-Visma team ahead of the start of Stage 18 on Thursday.
“In consultation with the team, we decided that my place was now at home. »
Van Aert added that leaving the race is “a strange feeling, but it’s not a dilemma”.
Vingegaard, the defending champion, edged past Tadej Pogacar in the final big stage in the French Alps on Wednesday to extend his overall lead to seven minutes and 35 seconds. Barring a serious crash, he should win his second Tour title on Sunday.
Van Aert has nine career stage wins on the Tour, but none in 2023.
“I often had the legs to win a stage, but that didn’t happen,” said Van Aert. “But I will always remember this Tour as the one I called home every day. »
