Asgreen of Soudal Quick-Step team wins Stage 18 of Tour de France

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Kasper Asgreen of Denmark won the 18th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday.

"Obviously the situation of our breakaway was not ideal. I would have preferred to break with 7 or 8 riders. It's also one of the final stages of Tour after really hard weeks. Yet we have seen small breaks making it to the finish against the bunch… so I didn’t rule out the possibility of winning," Asgreen said in a statement.

"It’s been a team time trial all day long. My breakaway companions were just excellent out there. We all deserved to win because of how much work we put into the break," he added.

The 28-year-old cyclist of the Soudal Quick-Step team completed a 184.9-kilometer (115-mile) route between Moutiers and Bourg en Bresse in four hours, six minutes and 48 seconds, ahead of Pascal Eenkhoorn of Lotto Dstny team and Jonas Abrahamsen of Uno-X.

The 19th stage, spanning a 172.8-kilometer (107-mile) route, is scheduled for Friday and will take riders from Moirans-en-Montagne and Poligny.

The 110th edition of the Tour de France will end with its final stage in Paris, on July 23.

General Ranking:

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark): 72 hours 4 minutes 39 seconds

2. Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia): +7 minutes 35 seconds

3. Adam Yates (Great Britain ): +10 minutes 45 seconds