"It feels idiotic" - Kasper Asgreen unhappy despite receiving last minute World Championship call up for Denmark

After finishing 6th in the individual time trial at the 2024 World Championships in Zürich, Kasper Asgreen headed home, assuming his job had been done. However, after Andreas Kron was forced to withdraw from selection due to injury, Asgreen has been called back to Switzerland.

Kron had been on the Danish selection as late as Tuesday, but after abandoning the Tour de Luxembourg recently due to a back injury, the Lotto Dstny man has failed to recover in time to make an impact in the men's elite road race in Zürich.

"If there's one light in the darkness, it's that Asgreen is ready to go in and ride a great World Championships," says Danish national coach Anders Lund to TV2. The whole situation of having Asgreen sent home, only to then call him back shortly after, has left both rider and national coach with something of a sour taste in their mouths. "Of course, it's a mess to send a rider home and call him back the next day - and the logistics of that," Lund admits.

According to the national coach, Asgreen didn't exactly take the recall too warmly either. "He is ambivalent, because it feels idiotic to have left the World Championship camp - and with the disappointment of not racing the road race and not making the cut - to be called back because of an injury," Lund concludes.

Nevertheless, given Asgreen's positive performance in the individual time trial last weekend and the fact that team leader Mattias Skjelmose has shaken off his own injury concerns to make the start line, the Danes remain full of ambition and optimism in their quest to capture the Rainbow Jersey.