Soudal-QuickStep’s challenging Tour de France saw an abrupt turnaround in fortunes on stage 18 when Kasper Asgreen claimed a victory that simultaneously silenced his team’s critics and provided the Dane confirmation, at the highest level possible, that after a year battling injuries, he was back in top condition.
Three weeks ago when Asgreen became Danish time trial national champion, his first win in nearly 12 months, the former Tour of Flanders champion already called that victory “more special than others, because I had to fight and work hard in the last year to come back to my level”.
