Everything about Kasper Asgreen

Who is Kasper Asgreen?

Kasper Asgreen is a professional cyclist who currently races for Soudal - Quick-Step and is a cobbled classics expert. The Dane has taken several national titles on both road races and time-trials but has also established himself as one of the best time-trialists in the world. Asgreen is the winner of both E3 Saxo Bank Classic and the Tour des Flandres in 2021, his best career achievements.

Name: Kasper Asgreen
Born: 8 February 1995
Birthplace: Kolding, Denmark
Turned Pro: 2015
Height: 1.92m

Strava
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook

Kasper Asgreen

Kasper Asgreen was born Feb. 8, 1995, in Kolding, Denmark. He has established himself as one of the most successful classical riders of the 2020s, and it all started at the age of 14 when he joined the Kolding Cycling Club close to home. In youth, Asgreen showed potential and eventually joined the Odder CK team in 2014. Asgreen currently has a contract with Soudal - Quick-Step until 2024 with a salary reportedly around €1 million - he has signed with EF Education-EasyPost from the 2025 season onwards. He is in a relationship with Gabrielle Pilote, a pro rider on the women's team Cofidis.

In 2015 , he received his first pro contract with MLP Team Bergstrasse, a German continental team in which he took his first steps into racing on a broad international calendar. In 2016 , he was contracted by the Virtu Pro Veloconcept team where he began to show his talent as a pro. He finished on the podium of GP Viborg, Tour de Berlin, National Under-23 and Elite time trial championships, and finished 5th at the Under-23 World Time Trial Championships.

In 2017 , he improved on his past results by winning the GP Viborg and the national time trial under-23. Most importantly, he became European time trial champion in the category by beating his own compatriot Mikkel Bjerg, and he also won the opening stage of the Tour de l'Avenir after a solo attack in the final kilometers. In early 2018 , he also won a stage in the Istrian Spring Trophy, but because of his talent, Quick-Step had already contacted him in April and made a mid-season transfer. That year, the Dane was a domestique for the team and rode to gain experience in the World Tour. He rode his first Grand Tour in the Vuelta a Espana and helped the team to victory at the World Team Time Trial Championship.

Read also

"You see what happens when you forget to say hello" - Kasper Asgreen recalls funny history of why Primoz Roglic lost the 2020 Tour

In 2019 , Asgreen very abruptly broke into the world scene when, without being a favorite or an outsider, he rode to 2nd place in the Tour des Flandres, alone behind Alberto Bettiol, after an attack from the chasing group. Asgreen soon became part of the team's essential and very strong classics block. Soon after, however, he showed that his talent was not only in the classics, as he won a hilly stage in the Tour of California and rode to a 3rd place finish in the World Tour as he withstood the mountains. The following month he became Danish time trial champion and headed to the Tour de France, where he worked as the team's sprinter but almost won his first Tour stage in Gap on the 17th day where only Matteo Trentin beat him.

Asgreen finished the Tour and was 2nd at the European time trial championships and later won a hilly stage in the Deutschland Tour. He had proven to be a rider worthy of being protected by the team, and in 2020 he began the spring with a different role, with a brave and dramatic win in Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne in February before the Covid-19 lockdown. He managed to win both the national time trial and road cycling championships, as well as the 6th place and ITT world championships, with another participation in the Tour de France and a block of cobbled classics under his belt.

All that would lead to 2021, where he won the E3 Saxo Bank Classic, one of the most difficult and important cobbled classics, preparing him for a favorites role in the Tour des Flandres. Asgreen certainly did not disappoint, as he managed to attack and team up with Mathieu van der Poel to fight for victory and then beat the Dutchman in the final sprint to win his first monument. Asgreen had reached his best level, a month after also winning the Volta ao Algarve and finishing 3rd, then winning the ITT national championships again.

Asgreen rode a third Tour de France and almost took victory in the final time trial where Wout van Aert triumphed. He finished 7th at the Olympics, 7th at the European Championships and 4th at the World Championships in the time trial discipline. In 2022 Asgreen had a strong start to the season with a 3rd place in Strade Bianche, but illness threw a spanner in the works for him and most Quick-Step cobbled classics, where a 10th place in the E3 Saxo Bank Classic was his best result. He finished 6th in the Amstel Gold Race, but ended his season after leaving the Tour de France due to injuries sustained in a fall at the Tour of Switzerland. There he suffered severe abrasions and bruises all over his body on stage 3, but was selected to ride the Tour because of the Grand Depart in his native Denmark.

Asgreen's spring in 2023 was rather disappointing, with the exception of the Tour of Flanders where he rode aggressively to a seventh-place finish. Other than that, he had no results to show for it, but his form returned in time for the Tour de France. After winning the national time trial, his form grew over the three weeks and after several attempts, he joined the breakaway of the day in stage 18 and in a seemingly innocuous day, succeeded. And Asgreen was the best sprinter of the riders who survived the approach of the peloton, the Dane took the victory that was very important for his career. He finished second the next day in a photo-finish breakaway sprint. Asgreen still managed to win in the Tour of Slovaquie to end his season.

Kasper Asgreen at Milano-Sanremo 2024

In 2024 the Dane continued to struggle in the higher-level competitions, not being able to perform amongst the best in the spring classics and the Vuelta a España - instead taking on more of a domestique role. In the national championships he finished second in both events.