Tour de France Tour de France 2023, stage 19: Moirans-en-Montagne - Poligny, 172.8k

[Red Rick]

I was only able to watch the highlights of yesterday and today, but I wanted to join the discussion for a second to remind everyone why I take flat stages in the third week over flat stages in the first two weeks any day. The route got sh*t on so badly for having three sprint stages in the third week but turns out the route design worked brilliantly.

If the Col de la Loze stage was stage 20 and we had additional flat stages before the Alps this route would have been so much worse. So after all the complaining I think it's only fair to also give the ASO some credit for doing this the right way. Can't tell you how often I've felt vindicated in my opinion that the Tour route was better than the Giro route over the past weeks.

This is like giving RCS insane credit for having good breakaway fights. Except nobody did.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

OK, that was a nice stage...to put it mildly.

 

[GroupDK]

Maybe it was perfectly timed to get to the line as fast as possible with what he had left and he simply got beat.

I recall Asgreen explained that he did mistimed the throw to a point that his legs was in a position that the throw came a fraction to left, so its not really up for debate, he explained it here.

Asgreen forklarer, hvorfor han ikke kastede cyklen

Kasper Asgreen var tæt på at få fuldt udbytte af sit angreb 30 kilometer fra mål.

sport.tv2.dk

Trsnslated here:

In the very last meters, Matej Mohoric threw his bike forward. Asgreen didn't, and for good reason.

- I geared up with 100-150 meters to the finish, and maybe I shouldn't have done that. If I hadn't done that, it could be that I would have hit a better stage in the pedal line to throw the bike, but it is a bit difficult to throw it if the feet are not in the right position, explains Kasper Asgreen.

Didn't get the desired position before the sprint
As expected, the 19th stage was a day of attacks in the east and west, and it was also an attack from Kasper Asgreen that gave the Soudal-Quick Step Dane the opportunity.

Asgreen attacked on the final categorized climb of the day with 30 kilometers to go, where he was joined by Mohoric and Australian Ben O'Connor of AG2R.

The trio worked excellently together and kept a chasing group with strong names such as Mads Pedersen, Jasper Philipsen, Christophe Laporte and Mathieu van der Poel behind them.

When the three men in front drove into the last kilometer, it was clear that it had to be decided between them, and here Kasper Asgreen did not get the position in the group that he wanted.

- I tried to time it so that I wanted to sit at the back, but it didn't work because the others took slightly shorter leads than I had hoped for. I think everyone wanted the back position - that's how it usually is.

- When O'Connor then opened far out, I tried to use his slipstream to get the speed so high that Matej couldn't get past, but it didn't quite work out, says Kasper Asgreen.

Kasper Asgreen is now listed for a single stage win and three second places in the Tour de France.