Joy at last for Soudal - Quick-Step as Kasper Asgreen takes thrilling breakaway win narrowly holding off the peloton
Cycling
In a dramatic finale, Kasper Asgreen held on to the secure a breakaway stage win ahead of a raging peloton on stage 18 at the Tour de France to finally secure victory for Soudal - Quick-Step
Jonas Vingegaard has virtually sealed the overall win at the Tour de France, now in the coming two days the sprinters will headline the days. Stage 18 will be the return to flat roads after many tough days.
With 12 teams yet to take a stage win at this year's race, some had thought this could have been a day where the break thwarted the sprinters. After such a brutal few days though the peloton was tired and as such only three riders opted to go in the break, Kasper Asgreen (Soudal - Quick Step), Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team).
The sprint teams kept the break on an incredibly tight leash, never allowing more than a minute and a half's advantage for the leading trio.
With just under 80km to go and the break at just 40 seconds, some riders attempted to launch counter-attacks. Raising the ire of Alpecin-Deceuninck, Jasper Philipsen took matters into his own hands, physically blocking attacks in a controversial move.
Despite Philipsen's blocking, Pascal Eenkhoorn did eventually manage to get up to the break and join his teammate Campenaerts, making the leading trio a quartet.
The extra pair of legs in the break had seemingly made a slight difference as the break's advantage stretched back out over a minute after dropping as though as near 20 seconds.
As more teams came to the front of the bunch though it seemed as if it was just a matter of time before the break was reeled in.
With 10km to go, the gap was just 23 seconds, but the majority of the chasing riders has given their all.
5km and the break still maintained an advantage of 14 seconds.
The peloton came through the 3km to go banner with the gap just 9 seconds.
Heading into the final kilometre, still the break were dangling out in front of the bunch. As the sprinters launched their respective moves, they were just too late with Kasper Asgreen holding on for the win ahead of Eenkhoorn and Abrahamsen.
Read also
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
Loading
🏆🇩🇰 @k_asgreen resists and wins in @Bourg_en_Bresse! 🏆🇩🇰 @k_asgreen résiste et s’impose à @Bourg_en_Bresse ! #TDF2023
Write a comment