Quotes from the 18th stage: Asgreen: "Victory proves that I'm back where I belong"
TOUR Online
· 20.07.2023
... Winner Kasper Asgreen (Soudal - Quick Step), at the press conference: "The last year since my early exit from the Tour has been pretty tough for me. This win is for all the people who helped me get back to my old level. It proves that I'm back where I belong. It's important for our team that we win a stage. I can't remember the last time the team didn't win a stage at the Tour.
... Top sprinter Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), via letour: "I also wonder why we didn't manage to catch up. We stayed a minute behind the breakaway, several teams joined in the chase with us, but you have to accept that they were able to defend their lead very well. I don't know if it has to do with the fact that we're in the third week and everyone is a bit tired. I think they just had great legs, they were very strong. Hats off to them because they were the ones who made the difference. I wanted to win today, so it's disappointing, but it's still a very good Tour so far. Also, with this fourth place, I've scored points for the green jersey, which is not useless."
Vingegaard's strategy? "Concentrate and stay out"
... Mathias Sjkelmose (Lidl Trek), team-mate of sprinter Mads Pedersen, on Eurosport: "Everyone knew what was going to happen, but we waited 15 minutes too long. That's annoying, but that's the way it is now. Jasper Philipsen is so overpowering in the sprint, so all the teams are cautious because they know they only have one chance with more people in the final. Everyone played their game, we tried to keep the time gap as small as possible, but we knew that they would go full throttle at times. We waited too long. Mads would have felt good, it's annoying."
... Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) in the yellow jersey, via letour: "It wasn't a hard day, but it was very fast in the end because there was a big battle between the breakaway group and the peloton. Nevertheless, I was happy that I was able to stay on the wheels of the sprinters' teams all day. My strategy for the next few days is essentially to concentrate and stay out of trouble. My team-mates did an excellent job of that today. We won't relax until the stage in Paris is over."
