Asgreen sprints to thrilling stage 18 win as Vingegaard retains solid lead

Quartet survive high-speed pursuit after joining forces as Belgian rider Wout van Aert leaves race to be with pregnant wife

GREAT DANE: Denmark's Kasper Asgreen crosses the finish line to win the eighteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 185 kilometers (115 miles) with start in Moutiers and finish in Bourg-en-Bresse, France, Thursday, July 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Jonas Vingegaard retained his overall lead in the Tour de France as Soudal Quick-Step’s Kasper Asgreen won stage 18 in Bourg-en-Bresse. Asgreen was one of four riders in the day’s breakaway to survive a high-speed pursuit by the speeding peloton, as the race left the Alps behind and entered the Rhone valley.

The four-rider attack, composed of Asgreen, Jonas Abrahamsen of Uno-X, and the Lotto-Dstny pair of Victor Campenaerts and Pascal Eenkhoorn, joined forces with 50 kilometres still to race and maintained a slim lead into the closing moments of the stage.