Deceuninck – Quick-Step leave the World Tour race also with a spectacular hat-trick of victories, brought by three different riders.
Kasper Asgreen was a man on a mission on the final day of the Tour of California, which started from Santa Clarita and took the peloton over another hard course, peppered with two arduous climbs, on the way to Pasadena, which returned on the race after two years. Leader of the points classification, the 24-year-old looked to secure the victory before the expected bunch sprint, and for that very reason, he made an audacious move on the final descent.
At that point in the race, the pack was already in pieces, following a series of brutal accelerations on the third-category Angeles Forest Highway climb. Among the fourteen riders to make the cut was also Kasper, who rode clear inside the final twenty kilometers, linking up with teammate Rémi Cavagna, part of a four-man group which had survived from the day’s original breakaway. The two Deceuninck – Quick-Step riders ensured a 30-second advantage for the move, from where Asgreen targeted the second intermediate sprint, which he won, snagging three points.
Their chances of succeeding were thwarted by a lack of cohesion, but not even that could stop Rémi from throwing in one more attack, which forced the bunch to chase hard in order to bring back the “TGV of Clermont-Ferrand” with eight kilometers to go. The stage came down to a mass gallop, where the trains were derailed by a late crash, and Argentinean Champion Maximiliano Richeze sprinted to fifth place.
Kasper Asgreen rolled over the line safely, wrapping up the points classification at the Tour of California – the third Deceuninck – Quick-Step rider to go home with the green jersey – as well as finishing on the GC podium, a result few, Kasper himself, could have foreseen at the start of the seven-day race. The Dane, who earlier this season rode to a remarkable runner-up spot at Ronde van Vlaanderen, was one of our three riders to notch up a stage win, alongside Cavagna and Fabio Jakobsen.
“The stage was hard and crazy once the tempo went up and the group got split over the top of the first climb. When I heard on the radio that Fabio was dropped, I went for the intermediate sprint to take the points, and why not, try to win the overall. The latter was a long-shot and didn’t happen, but it still was an incredible day of racing”, said Asgreen, who impressed with his calm throughout the week and exceptionally strong ride, be it on the flat or high mountains.
Overall, the US World Tour race proved to be a great stepping-stone for Kasper, who is into his first full pro season and still far from reaching his huge potential: “I go home with my first pro victory, the green jersey and this beautiful and unexpected third place on the general classification, having achieved a new level of confidence in my abilities on the climbs. I will think together with the team about what the future holds stage race wise, but now it’s time to get some rest after this solid first part of the season.”
Photo credit: ©Chris Graythen/ Getty Images
