Kasper Asgreen hospitalised after crash shatters bike at Tour de France 2019
The Dane is riding his first Tour, but came down in a brutal crash on stage three
Tour de France debutant Kasper Asgreen was hospitalised after a bad crash on stage three that left his bike in pieces.
The Deceuninck – Quick-Step rider had worked on the front of the peloton for much of the day, setting up his team-mate Julian Alaphilippe for a phenomenal victory.
But disaster tempered the celebration, when news emerged that Asgreen hit a traffic sign in the final kilometres and was being taken to hospital.
He was able to finish the stage and was seen walking to an ambulance with cuts to his face.
Deceuninck - Quick-Step released a statement on Monday evening (July 8), saying that the team's medical staff would monitor Asgreen overnight. He was able to start the following stage.
>>> Five talking points from stage three of the Tour de France 2019
After the stage a picture of Asgreen’s shattered bike emerged on social media, showing the frame in broken in half and major damage to the front wheel.
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Quick-Step rider Michael Mørkøv was in the same group as Asgreen when he fell and told broadcaster TV 2 Sport: “It was a really ugly crash, but I’ve heard he should be okay.”
Asgreen was able to finish the stage, albeit 20 minutes behind the stage winner and six minutes after the last group.
Team boss Patrick Lefevere said: “I’ve heard Kasper Asgreen had a really bad crash. When the team say it’s bad it’s bad. I hope he can recover.”
>>> Geraint Thomas slips seconds behind Egan Bernal after stage three of Tour de France 2019
Alaphilippe rode to a magnificent solo victory on stage three to Épernay, attacking on the Côte de Mutigny with 16km left to race.
Michael Matthews (Sunweb) finished second, leading the bunch over the line 26 seconds behind the Frenchman, with Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) third and Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) closing out the top five.
Alaphilippe also took the yellow jersey, becoming the first Frenchman in five years to lead the Tour.
Asgreen has been a strong young performer this season, finishing second in the Tour of Flanders before going on to take his first pro win on stage two of the Tour of California on the savage South Lake Tahoe stage, eventually finishing third overall.
The 24-year-old is also an emerging time trial star, with a second place on the ITT at the Tour de Suisse before victory in the Danish national TT championships last month.
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Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
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