Tour of Flanders winner Kasper Asgreen joins NSN in boost to Classics squad

NSN Cycling Team have strengthened their Classics ambitions with the signing of Kasper Asgreen, bringing the former Tour of Flanders winner into the team on a two year deal from 2027.

Asgreen will leave EF Education-EasyPost at the end of the season and enter his tenth year as a professional with NSN, adding considerable experience to a squad looking to become a greater force in the biggest one day races.

The 31-year-old Dane has spent much of his career at the sharp end of the spring Classics. His breakthrough came with second place at the Tour of Flanders in 2019 before he returned two years later to win the Monument, beating Mathieu van der Poel in the final sprint in Oudenaarde.

For NSN general manager Kjell Carlström, however, Asgreen’s appeal extends well beyond his results.

“We are thrilled to welcome Kasper Asgreen to NSN Cycling Team,” Carlström said in a statement by the team. “Kasper is exactly the versatile rider we wanted to add to our roster, and we expect him to make a strong impact as both a leader and a teammate.”

Alongside his career defining Tour of Flanders victory, Asgreen has also won stages in two different Grand Tours.

He claimed stage 18 of the 2023 Tour de France from a four man breakaway, before adding a Giro d’Italia stage win two years later with a late solo attack into Nova Gorica.

That range is a large part of what attracted NSN to Asgreen.

“He is a fighter, whether on the cobbles, in a breakaway, putting the hammer down on the front of the peloton, or racing against the clock,” Carlström said.

“His aggressive, opportunistic approach has earned him victories across a wide range of races, and we are excited to see what he can achieve in the years ahead.”

The move also gives Asgreen a fresh opportunity to pursue several targets he feels remain unfinished.

The Classics remain high on that list. His Tour of Flanders victory is the biggest result of his career, and Asgreen believes he can use that experience both in his own pursuit of victories and in helping develop NSN’s younger Classics riders.

“The Classics are obviously very special to me,” Asgreen said. “They are where I had my big breakthrough and are the races that I enjoy so much.

“I think the team already has a good Classics squad and there’s so much potential there to be successful. So I hope I can come in and help guide the boys and use the experience I have from winning some of the biggest ones.”

Asgreen’s ambitions also extend beyond the cobbles.

His victories at the Tour and Giro leave the Vuelta a España as the only Grand Tour in which he has yet to win a stage, something he would like to change in NSN colours.

“I already have a stage win in the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, so the next step would be to try and complete the trilogy and I would love to do that with NSN,” he said.

There is another target that has stayed with him since 2021. Asgreen finished fourth in the individual time trial at that year’s World Championships, just two seconds away from a medal.

“I still have a score to settle there,” he said. “I would really like to get that medal at some point.”

Asgreen is the latest confirmed addition to NSN’s 2027 roster. Santiago Buitrago is also set to join from Bahrain Victorious on a deal through 2029, while Jens Verbrugghe will step up from the development team.

Marco Frigo, meanwhile, will leave at the end of the season to join UAE Team Emirates-XRG on a two year contract.