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Kasper "The Watt Monster" Asgreen

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Pretty crazy to think that despite having a good career as an U23, he wasn't initially picked up by any pro team and was on the Conti level until April. Just shows that even big talents can sometimes slip through the cracks. Bet DQS are glad they took the chance on him now though!
 
Pretty crazy to think that despite having a good career as an U23, he wasn't initially picked up by any pro team and was on the Conti level until April. Just shows that even big talents can sometimes slip through the cracks. Bet DQS are glad they took the chance on him now though!

And even DQS only signed him cause they had a flurry of injuries last spring and wanted "just another body" to be honest.
 
As far as I've heard the story, Lefevre was already set on another rider to solve the injury issues, when Bjarne Riis called him up, and told him he should look at a kid on his conti team (yes, conti, not pro-conti).
Actually they couldn't sign the other rider (who was pro-conti) due to UCI regulations apparently. In any case, as stated by others here: PL certainly struck gold with Asgreen. It was a perfect match.
 
Actually they couldn't sign the other rider (who was pro-conti) due to UCI regulations apparently. In any case, as stated by others here: PL certainly struck gold with Asgreen. It was a perfect match.

I think there is a lot of talent on the danish pro-conti and continental teams.

Asgreen didn't exactly win a lot of races at conti level, he was pretty much just a TT specialist, but has undergone a tremendous development both in terms of tactical sense and in terms of punch.
 
Asgreen with a disappointing TT at the Worlds today, and in the interview afterwards he said that his good form has vanished. So that's really bad news for the Danish team since he was basically the only one in the team who has won major races this year - apart from Fuglsang who probably has no chance of reaching the podium considering the nature of the course. Theoretically Cort, Valgren and Pedersen should have a chance, but they haven't won enough races in the last year to be considered podium candidates - and while Mørkøv is fast, he can not be expected to beat the fastest guys in a close bunch sprint.

A bit sad - at the Olympics, Fuglsang will have a chance, but he will not get much help from the other Danes - Asgreen might prove the best to do so -, so it's a bit unlucky for Denmark that the one day classic riders have had so little success in 2019 where the route should suit them
 
I think it's been a long and successful season for young Asgreen. True, his ITT at the Worlds was disappointing. But he did a lot of work at the grand tour level, and maybe it's just a case of not being able to hold form or regain form in this long season.
 
Surely that's true for the WC. But i wonder if at the EC he was still able to defend his chances or if the form was already in decline then. I did expect him to beat Evenepoel there. So i'm still wondering about his ITT abilities when 100% and whether or not the ECC was it.

After the TT the other day, he said he had felt his form decline during the Tour of Germany, and that he would work with his trainers on how to extend the form next year.
 
Exactly, we have to remember this was his first full season with the team after joining them in April last year. And even in 2018 his best results were 6th at Laugueglia (before signing with Quickstep) and 4th at the national time trial championships. So no one expected pretty much anything from him except maybe help in a few TTTs going into 2019. He came out of nowhere and performed on pretty much every terrain this year. TTs, cobbles, sprinting and even climbing. I wonder what he will go for in 2020 and what he can achieve.
 
Remco, Yves, Bob & Julian will go to the Specialized windtunnel in California to improve their ITT positions... Am i the only one wondering why Kasper isn't going? I mean, i'd wager a pretty penny that he'll beat Jungels any day of the week in an ITT.

Probably just going a different time? Some of Boras riders were there in the off-season together with Großschartner coming in on his own a few weeks later.
 
DQS are extremely tough to mark in the cobbled classics this year and with Jungels, Stybar, Lampaert and Asgreen all capable winners they should always make the key move and be represented in every split but it’s still fairly easy to envisage them falling short in the two monuments because none of those riders unless arriving at the finale solo are likely to be amongst the fastest finishers to survive at the front.

Jakobsen did well today making the front group to contest the finish but in more selective races with climbs nearer the finish I don’t think he is yet strong enough to be there.
 
DQS are extremely tough to mark in the cobbled classics this year and with Jungels, Stybar, Lampaert and Asgreen all capable winners they should always make the key move and be represented in every split but it’s still fairly easy to envisage them falling short in the two monuments because none of those riders unless arriving at the finale solo are likely to be amongst the fastest finishers to survive at the front.

Jakobsen did well today making the front group to contest the finish but in more selective races with climbs nearer the finish I don’t think he is yet strong enough to be there.
Stybar is pretty fast, Asgreen has won bunch sprints and even Lampaert isn't exactly slow. I could easily see Asgreen beat anyone in a sprint at the finish of a monument. And the thing is, because they are usually represented in the every group, break, chase, and have an ace up their sleeve in the peloton... they always have the upperhand tactically. Like last year in E3. Stybar didn't have to work together with van Aert, Van Avermaet & Bettiol, because Jungels was up ahead. So while van Aert, Bettiol and Van Avermaet were working their asses off trying to catch Jungels, Stybar was laughing all the way to the bank. So when they finally caught Jungels, Stybar easily beat van Aert and Van Avermaet in the sprint, even though they are supposedly faster. And that's why they're always difficult to beat, and in such a scenario, you don't even have to be the strongest in the race individually.

And it's a domino effect. They have a guy in a solo break, but also in the chasing group, and a sprinter in the peloton. Only the guy in the front has to do the work, because the guy in the chase can say he has a guy up front, as well as a sprinter in the peloton. The sprint train guys can rest in the peloton, because they have two guys up the road. So in any and every situation, the odds are always in their favor, because everybody is having to work, except them. If the chase doesn't catch the guy solo up the road, they win. If the chase does catch him, they also win. And when the peloton catches the break, they also have the best odds. I know you know this, but i just felt like writing it down, lol.

If they can "devide and conquer" in PR and RVV, they can win there as well. It's a bit harder to do in those races, but definitely not impossible for a squad with their depth. Stybar, Asgreen, Lampaert, Jungels, Sénéchal and Ballerini are all riding PR. If they can get 3 guys in the final, they likely won't need the fastest guy.
 
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Stybar is pretty fast, Asgreen has won bunch sprints and even Lampaert isn't exactly slow. I could easily see Asgreen beat anyone in a sprint at the finish of a monument. And the thing is, because they are usually represented in the every group, break, chase, and have an ace up their sleeve in the peloton... they always have the upperhand tactically. Like last year in E3. Stybar didn't have to work together with van Aert, Van Avermaet & Bettiol, because Jungels was up ahead. So while van Aert, Bettiol and Van Avermaet were working their asses off trying to catch Jungels, Stybar was laughing all the way to the bank. So when they finally caught Jungels, Stybar easily beat van Aert and Van Avermaet in the sprint, even though they are supposedly faster. And that's why they're always difficult to beat, and in such a scenario, you don't even have to be the strongest in the race individually.

And it's a domino effect. They have a guy in a solo break, but also in the chasing group, and a sprinter in the peloton. Only the guy in the front has to do the work, because the guy in the chase can say he has a guy up front, as well as a sprinter in the peloton. The sprint train guys can rest in the peloton, because they have two guys up the road. So in any and every situation, the odds are always in their favor, because everybody is having to work, except them. If the chase doesn't catch the guy solo up the road, they win. If the chase does catch him, they also win. And when the peloton catches the break, they also have the best odds. I know you know this, but i just felt like writing it down, lol.

If they can "devide and conquer" in PR and RVV, they can win there as well. It's a bit harder to do in those races, but definitely not impossible for a squad with their depth. Stybar, Asgreen, Lampaert, Jungels, Sénéchal and Ballerini are all riding PR. If they can get 3 guys in the final, they likely won't need the fastest guy.

I see what you mean and agree with the vast majority of it. Only negatives are a lack of experienced winners (none of the current squad have won a cobbled monument as far as I can remember) and they don’t have a true fast guy since the decline of Tom Boonen.

As you rightly point out that speed disadvantage is levelled out a lot by them often being in the luxury position of not having to work much in the groups they are in due to the position of their teammates.
 
Just another weapon for DQS. They have several guys who you cannot let launch an attack without response. It's crazy.

That was a great ride though. I can only imagine how deep he had to go towards the end there.

From Oliver Naesen's Strava the last loop (~15km) was done at an average speed of almost 50 km/hr (31.0mph). So he did this final 15km about as fast, and there was obviously a bunch of wind (it's a loop so in theory no net effect but as everyone knows TTing is a lot harder combining sections with head- and tailwind than in no-wind). Naesen's reported power, mostly sheltered in the bunch on that last part, was 318W, so Asgreen (who I guesstimate is of similar size as Naesen) must have been putting out some monstrous numbers, like 420-450W, for 18min. Absolute beast mode for sure!
 

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