First Dane in 12 years to take a stage at the Deutschland Tour, Kasper notched up his third win of the year.
A rider destined for big things ever since bursting onto the scene in 2018, Kasper Asgreen continued his remarkable season in his first stage race since completing the Tour de France, the Deutschland Tour, which on Saturday scheduled a hilly 189km stage between Göttingen and Eisenach.
“We made a plan today, followed it and did our job perfectly. We set out this morning with the goal of taking the victory, so we placed one rider in the front so we didn’t have to work in the pack, then we kept a hard pace in the last hour and especially on the climbs, before making the decisive move. Being able to deliver the win after such a fantastic team effort makes me very happy”, an ecstatic Kasper said after picking up his third victory of 2019, one which helped Deceuninck – Quick-Step move into the team classification lead at the Deutschland Tour.
But long before Kasper hit the spotlight, it was Julian Alaphilippe who animated the day, as part of a three-man break that got to stay at the front for 150 kilometers. Julian’s presence there forced the other teams to work hard behind them and cut the four-minute deficit before the business end of the race, where the Wolfpack made use of their numerical advantage and put the hammer down, splitting the peloton with the likes of Remco Evenepoel and Enric Mas.
Our squad’s impetus whittled down the bunch to just 25 men over the top of the Hohe Sonne climb, where several riders tried to open a gap only to get reeled in by the same Deceuninck – Quick-Step riders, whose amazing selfless work rate ended up playing a huge role in the final outcome. When Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) powered ahead, Kasper Asgreen went after him as soon as he sensed a lull in the group, caught the Belgian and traded turns with him in the closing kilometers, before easily outsprinting him with 150 meters to go and putting on his palmares another impressive victory.
It was the 58th UCI win of the season for Deceuninck – Quick-Step, who has a fair chance of ending the year again atop the team victory standings, as it did in each of the past seven seasons, and Kasper explained what’s the main ingredient behind this astounding success: “Our team spirit is something really special. It comes down to everybody, not just the riders, but also the staff, everybody in the whole organisation. Every race we do is important to us, we take every single one seriously, and work all the time together for our goals. At the end of the day, this makes the difference and helps us win so many races. It doesn’t matter who takes the victory, as long as one of our guys crosses the line with his arms in the air.”
Photo credit: ©Bas Czerwinski/ Getty Images
