Asgreen targets Tour de France repeat after collarbone break

Kasper Asgreen is setting his sights on a repeat of his 2023 Tour de France stage victory, despite a challenging start to his season. The Danish cyclist suffered a broken collarbone in May, an injury that disrupted his planned summer program and forced him to miss crucial warm-up races.

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The day I broke my collarbone, I couldn't think about the Tour de France at all; I was too bitter.

"The day I broke my collarbone, I couldn't think about the Tour de France at all; I was too bitter," Asgreen admitted. He noted that a broken collarbone was "not in the equation" and was a significant setback. He also had to forgo scheduled preparatory races.

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A broken collarbone was not in the equation, so of course it was a setback, and I also didn't get to ride the warm-up races I was supposed to.

Despite the adversity, Asgreen worked diligently to regain fitness. He only felt confident about his Tour de France readiness shortly before the race began in Barcelona. The injury, while painful, was a relatively straightforward recovery. "It took a couple of days. I had surgery on Friday, and by Tuesday, I wasn't taking any painkillers anymore," he explained. The plate inserted stabilized the fracture, and the surgical wound healed quickly, allowing him to return to cycling sooner than expected.

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It took a couple of days. I had surgery on Friday, and by Tuesday, I wasn't taking any painkillers anymore.

Asgreen participated in the Danish national championships a week before the Tour, where he felt he was approaching his peak form. He is not merely participating to support his teammates; he is actively seeking opportunities to replicate his 2023 triumph. However, he acknowledges the route presents few chances for riders of his profile. "There are many intermediate stages with a Category 1 or a couple of Category 2 climbs. For us classic riders, there are perhaps only a couple of stages, and I hope we can get a good group away," he said. He also mentioned the possibility of surprising sprinters on certain stages, stating, "If we can get away on one of the sprint stages one day and trick the sprinters, that could also be a lot of fun."

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For us classic riders, there are perhaps only a couple of stages, and I hope we can get a good group away.