PARIS (BBC): Kasper Asgreen claimed his first Tour de France stage victory as he held on to win stage 18 from an epic breakaway. The Soudal Quick-Step rider, 28, was part of a four-man group which seemed destined to be caught during the closing stages in Bourg-en-Bresse. But the leaders managed to stay clear, with Dane Asgreen outsprinting Pascal Eenkhorn and Jonas Abrahamsen.
Compatriot Jonas Vingegaard maintained his comfortable overall lead with just three stages left.
Two-time winner Tadej Pogacar remains seven minutes and 35 seconds behind the defending champion, with Britain’s Adam Yates third. Jasper Philipsen was hoping for his fifth stage win of this year’s Tour on the flat 184.9km route from Moutiers. And although the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider managed to pass Victor Campenaerts metres from the finish, the peloton had left it fractionally too late to reel in the rest of the breakaway group.
