Part of a day-long break after two weeks in the services of GC leader Julian Alaphilippe, the young Dane finished runner-up in Gap.
Kasper Asgreen showed again his talents and continued to impress in a season which so far saw him take second at his debut Ronde van Vlaanderen, conclude third overall at the Tour of California (where he adorned his palmares with a stage win and the points jersey) and dominate the National ITT Championships.
Asgreen has been everywhere at the Tour de France since the Grand Depart in Brussels, but not in a breakaway, until Wednesday that is, when he jumped from the peloton in the opening kilometers of stage 17 (Pont du Gard – Gap, 200km) and joined a sizeable group which ended up building a 20-minute lead over the bunch. Kasper brought his fair share of work before the front group disintegrated on the run-in to the last climb, when nine riders attacked.
With remarkable ease, the 24-year-old closed a 200-meter gap and continued to set the tempo, even after Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) attacked and rode clear. One kilometer from the top of Col de la Sentinelle, Kasper got out of the saddle and accelerated, dropping his companions and going in pursuit of the Italian. Despite reducing the margin separating them, the Danish powerhouse rode out of road and had to be satisfied with second in Gap, a stage finish for the 24th time in history.
“I am really happy with the confidence the team gave me today. I felt pretty good and had a fun day in the break. On the Sentinelle, I decided to make my move inside the last kilometer, but at this point in the race there wasn’t too much power left in the legs, which made the gap really difficult to shut down. Second is a nice result, my first Grand Tour stage top 3, and I hope to keep it up in the last days of the Tour, which has been really great for us”, said Kasper after his eye-catching ride, which netted Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s 100th podium of the season.
In the peloton, Yves Lampaert, together with national champions Michael Mørkøv and Maximiliano Richeze, took over the front, exchanging turns, keeping at all times the gap in check and protecting overall leader Julian Alaphilippe, who stayed hidden for most of the stage and spent an uneventful day as the pack decided to conserve their energy ahead of the first test in the Alps.
Escorted by Dries Devenyns and Enric Mas on the climb and subsequent descent, Julian rolled over the line some 20-odd minutes behind the break and made another visit to the podium, where he was rewarded with his 13th yellow jersey, which the 27-year-old Deceuninck – Quick-Step rider will try to defend on Thursday, between Embrun and Valloire.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele/ Getty Images
