Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s rider becomes the first Dane since 2002 to win both road race and time trial titles in the same season.
Kasper Asgreen was a man on a mission Saturday afternoon, when he arrived at the start of the 44km time trial race in Skælskør, and the 25-year-old – who just last week finished inside the top 10 at the World ITT Championships – lived up to the expectations, comfortably retaining the title won last season.
The course was completely flat, but very technical, peppered with many tight corners and turns, and as this wasn’t enough, a strong wind accompanied the riders throughout the day, adding to the difficulty. Last rider to roll down the ramp, Kasper didn’t waste any time when it came to making his intentions known and clocked up the fastest time as he breezed through the intermediate checkpoint.
By the time he got to the second split, our rider had almost doubled his advantage over the next rider in the provisional classification, but he continued to maintain a high tempo and concluded his effort in 52:39, putting more than a minute and a half into runner-up Martin Toft Madsen (BHS-PL Beton Bornholm) and thus adding the ITT title to the road one he claimed in August.
“It goes without saying that I am very happy. It’s always special to wear the Danish National Champion jersey and to be the first rider in 18 years to hold both jerseys makes me very proud. I’m also grateful to the team that I could do this race, despite the busy schedule we have. I just tried to gain as much time as possible in the headwind and crosswinds section while recovering a bit in the corners and everything went perfect.”
“I knew that keeping a steady tempo would help me get a good time at the finish and this is what happened. Being double Danish Champion in this complicated season feels great, and now I can’t wait to be back with the team again for our last appointments of the year”, said Kasper after scoring the 59th national title in the history of Deceuninck – Quick-Step.
Photo credit: ©Dan Møller
