Alexander Kristoff

[mrhender]

Re: Re:

It's possible that the other half of this discussion thinks it's just that, a discussion, not an argument

You've been spending too much time on here

I can't deny the possibilty

I just wanted to underline that I wouldn't get obnoxious over a minor importance/issue of betting value..

Maybe at times I hold back because I see what can happen on here...

Also I value your postings so I wouldn't want to be the guy acting up over "nothing"...

Hmm...

 

[Dedelou]

Re: Re:

This man...

I remember at Maxbo Bianchi there were 2 talents. Edvald Boasson Hagen and Kristoff. Hagen the strong man who could win everything, hills, time trials, sprints, cobbles. And there was Kristoff, who, at that time, was 'just' a fast guy. Couldn't survive a speed bump though.
Then at the pro's, Hagen immediately went on winning, but at classics often troubled the last 50km.
Kristoff got placements... after a few years wins.. and then he started doing really well in hard stages and semi-classics.. then he won virtually every sprint after 250km+ races, but it was often for minor placings.. Last year he actually won MSR. And this year he is simply the strongest in Flanders. Wow.

And where is Hagen? At MTN, trying to regain what once was... Kristoff far surpassed him. Who would've though back then? I know virtually everyone thought Hagen was the big thing. Kristoff shows that young stars aren't always the brightest stars or the ones with most potential.

Yeah.. Fully agree with the above. Slow and steady progress for Kristoff to the point where he looks like a big star for years to come. EBH looked like the biggest talent, but isn`t really good at anything anymore. I wonder though: Is Sagan showing signs of fading like EBH as well? Would be a shame.

some guys are slow to rise but once up there stay long enough to make a name in the history books.. Kristoff has that for him.. we have seen him come , come , come and stay there..

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

This man...

I remember at Maxbo Bianchi there were 2 talents. Edvald Boasson Hagen and Kristoff. Hagen the strong man who could win everything, hills, time trials, sprints, cobbles. And there was Kristoff, who, at that time, was 'just' a fast guy. Couldn't survive a speed bump though.
Then at the pro's, Hagen immediately went on winning, but at classics often troubled the last 50km.
Kristoff got placements... after a few years wins.. and then he started doing really well in hard stages and semi-classics.. then he won virtually every sprint after 250km+ races, but it was often for minor placings.. Last year he actually won MSR. And this year he is simply the strongest in Flanders. Wow.

And where is Hagen? At MTN, trying to regain what once was... Kristoff far surpassed him. Who would've though back then? I know virtually everyone thought Hagen was the big thing. Kristoff shows that young stars aren't always the brightest stars or the ones with most potential.

Yeah.. Fully agree with the above. Slow and steady progress for Kristoff to the point where he looks like a big star for years to come. EBH looked like the biggest talent, but isn`t really good at anything anymore. I wonder though: Is Sagan showing signs of fading like EBH as well? Would be a shame.

some guys are slow to rise but once up there stay long enough to make a name in the history books.. Kristoff has that for him.. we have seen him come , come , come and stay there..

In a funny way this comparison makes the argument that putting pressure on a youngster is sometimes not the worst thing to do in case they fade without ever getting that one big win.

 

[ingsve]

I think for PR it's better to have more of a TT type of skill. In RVV the explosiveness of a sprinter is well suited for getting up hellingen but in the longer flats pavé sections it's more of a steady grind and Kristoff is not really a TT beast over any longer stretches.

 

[ingsve]

How many wins do you reccon Kristoff could get this year? With 10 wins already in April he could easily reach the 20 win mark. I think most wins in a season in the past decade or so was Petacchi with 25. That might be hard to reach though. It depends on his calender I guess. I'm not sure he'll be riding any of the norwegian stage races this year but if he did then those usually mean easy wins for him the last couple of years. I guess he'll probably stick to a higher level of races which means less wins though.

 

[cellardoor]

Re:

I think for PR it's better to have more of a TT type of skill. In RVV the explosiveness of a sprinter is well suited for getting up hellingen but in the longer flats pavé sections it's more of a steady grind and Kristoff is not really a TT beast over any longer stretches.

Your comment about TTing is logical, but then you have the likes of Boonen and Flecha who are not noted testers and that didn't seem to hinder them at PR.

 

[neineinei]

Re:

How many wins do you reccon Kristoff could get this year? With 10 wins already in April he could easily reach the 20 win mark. I think most wins in a season in the past decade or so was Petacchi with 25. That might be hard to reach though. It depends on his calender I guess. I'm not sure he'll be riding any of the norwegian stage races this year but if he did then those usually mean easy wins for him the last couple of years. I guess he'll probably stick to a higher level of races which means less wins though.

Quite sure he will race the Norwegian races, at least that's what the plan was back in October. http://www.aftenbladet.no/100Sport/sykkel/Her-er-Kristoffs-2015-plan-467104_1.snd (Probably correct apart from Milano-Sanremo scheduled in June...)

Not raceing Tour des Fjords seems completly unthinkable.

 

[neineinei]

The fact that he has 10 wins already has quite a lot to do with the strengthening of his leadout. He would not have won the 3 stages at De Panne or Tour of Qatar with the team/leadout he had last year. His sprint isn't a lot better this spring. He is being brought to much better positions for the sprint by the team now. Bringing in Jacopo Guarnieri was a stroke of genius. Bystrøm has also been a sucsess.

 

[Netserk]

Really glad that he won yesterday, especially the way he did it. I don't think he'll be among the (three) strongest in Roubaix (Etixx will save their spring there), but if he is not as unlucky as last year he should definitely play a role in the final.

Come July it will be interesting to see if he can win the green jersey, though Cav and Sagan are both more likely winners imo. Would be cool to have as World champion as well.

 

[TMP402]

Re:

Really glad that he won yesterday, especially the way he did it. I don't think he'll be among the (three) strongest in Roubaix (Etixx will save their spring there), but if he is not as unlucky as last year he should definitely play a role in the final.

Come July it will be interesting to see if he can win the green jersey, though Cav and Sagan are both more likely winners imo. Would be cool to have as World champion as well.

Oh god, a year of Kristomination is going to be boring. I'll be pistoff.

 

[ingsve]

Re:

Come July it will be interesting to see if he can win the green jersey, though Cav and Sagan are both more likely winners imo.

Ya, that will be interesting. With the new and improved leadout he certainly stands a better chance now but at the same time both Cav and Sagan have things to prove to their teams so I'm guessing that both of then will be there with sharp focus.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Come July it will be interesting to see if he can win the green jersey, though Cav and Sagan are both more likely winners imo.

Ya, that will be interesting. With the new and improved leadout he certainly stands a better chance now but at the same time both Cav and Sagan have things to prove to their teams so I'm guessing that both of then will be there with sharp focus.

Can't see how Cav will win it. He's not the favourite any more for the flat stages and he'd probably have to win 4 or 5 to have a chance of cancelling out Sagan's consistent placings.

 

[Netserk]

Come July it will be interesting to see if he can win the green jersey, though Cav and Sagan are both more likely winners imo.

Ya, that will be interesting. With the new and improved leadout he certainly stands a better chance now but at the same time both Cav and Sagan have things to prove to their teams so I'm guessing that both of then will be there with sharp focus.

Plus, unlike Sagan, Kristoff probably won't score in a lot of stages that Cav won't (I guess it'll only be the cobbles stage and perhaps the one to Rodez), so he'll have to be about even with him in the sprints over the whole Tour. I doubt we'll see him go after intermediate points like Hushovd and Sagan.

 

[Dedelou]

Re: Re:

Come July it will be interesting to see if he can win the green jersey, though Cav and Sagan are both more likely winners imo.

Ya, that will be interesting. With the new and improved leadout he certainly stands a better chance now but at the same time both Cav and Sagan have things to prove to their teams so I'm guessing that both of then will be there with sharp focus.

Can't see how Cav will win it. He's not the favourite any more for the flat stages and he'd probably have to win 4 or 5 to have a chance of cancelling out Sagan's consistent placings.

Does Cav retains the right to hang on to support cars or was that only when he was an ASO darling?

 

[wirral]

Kristoff will smash the Scheldeprijs with a 450m sprint from the front.

 

[B_Ugli]

KRISTOFF WINS FLANDERS

I thought I would do this before somebody else does - a bit of fun!!!

 

[Pulp]

Only problem with today`s easy win: He won`t win PR now. Apparently no one has won RvV , Schelderprijs & PR in same season before...
Or he could just win his 6th mass start win in a row of course.

 

[DBotero]

He's on fire,but maybe somebody will stop him on Roubaix.I like him,he's a great successor for Thor,but it's getting a bit ridiculous his winning streak.

 

[ingsve]

He's on fire,but maybe somebody will stop him on Roubaix.I like him,he's a great successor for Thor,but it's getting a bit ridiculous his winning streak.

At the same point that's more on others than on him.

After Roubaix things will change with going into the Ardennes and all the other thougher races around this time. I'm guessing Kristoff will go on a break as well after Roubaix.

 

[Pentacycle]

Re:

Only problem with today`s easy win: He won`t win PR now. Apparently no one has won RvV , Schelderprijs & PR in same season before...
Or he could just win his 6th mass start win in a row of course.

Well, before 2011 nobody had won the Brabantse Pijl, AGR, FW and LBL within 13 days, so I wouldn't make such a prediction. However, Kristoff might become isolated in the final, as nobody will want to drag him to the finish. And he's never shown that he can attack on the pavé which makes him vulnerable.

 

[Pulp]

He's on fire,but maybe somebody will stop him on Roubaix.I like him,he's a great successor for Thor,but it's getting a bit ridiculous his winning streak.

At the same point that's more on others than on him.

After Roubaix things will change with going into the Ardennes and all the other thougher races around this time. I'm guessing Kristoff will go on a break as well after Roubaix.

Yes, PR will be his last race before a training break. I`m guessing he resurfaces in his local race, Tour de Fjords, in the build up to Tdf which is his next "target" for the season. Think I`ve read somewhere that he hopes to challenge for the Green jersey, although that`s probably a stretch if Sagan finds his form.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Another great win today,

Who knows about Roubaix, but given his run he is certainly on hot form.

I'd imagine Katusha will send a strong team to support him at Tour de Fjords, he normally fills his proverbial boots there anyway.

Does anyone know who is has working for him in his sprint train?, I understand Paolini, but I know little about the other riders (despite being a big Kirstoff fan).

Remember Sagan will be in a Contador led team at the Tour, he may have limited support (perhaps just Bodnar or Sagan's brother) could be one of the best sprint showdowns for many a year, with Kristoff, Kittel, Sagan, Griepel and Cavendish et al.

 

[Eriksen]

Re:

I'd imagine Katusha will send a strong team to support him at Tour de Fjords, he normally fills his proverbial boots there anyway.

Does anyone know who is has working for him in his sprint train?, I understand Paolini, but I know little about the other riders (despite being a big Kirstoff fan).

Tour De Fjords should be a nice race this year. Kristoff will definately try to defend this title from last year and the organisers are bringing in Gerrans, Pinot & Cancellara (if healthy). I'm also expecting a couple of breakthrough performances from young Norwegians there.

As for the Katusha sprint train, the main guy is now Jacopo Guarnieri. Kristoff wanted more help this season and handpicked Guarnieri himself for the train and classics. In the classics he has struggled with some injuries and not quite been able to help Kristoff but in flat stages he has been really good. Obviously Paolini is still around to help!

Aleksander Porsev did a good job leading out in Tour de France, but reading beween the lines in norwegian media it seems Kristoff is not happy with him. Marco Haller & Sven-Erik Bystrøm are really blossoming this season and should be in the train somewhere in future races.

Compared to two years ago the Katusha train is night and day. But for next season, if he re-signs with Katusha, he will demand one more strong rider for the train.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Re: Re:

I'd imagine Katusha will send a strong team to support him at Tour de Fjords, he normally fills his proverbial boots there anyway.

Does anyone know who is has working for him in his sprint train?, I understand Paolini, but I know little about the other riders (despite being a big Kirstoff fan).

Tour De Fjords should be a nice race this year. Kristoff will definately try to defend this title from last year and the organisers are bringing in Gerrans, Pinot & Cancellara (if healthy). I'm also expecting a couple of breakthrough performances from young Norwegians there.

As for the Katusha sprint train, the main guy is now Jacopo Guarnieri. Kristoff wanted more help this season and handpicked Guarnieri himself for the train and classics. In the classics he has struggled with some injuries and not quite been able to help Kristoff but in flat stages he has been really good. Obviously Paolini is still around to help!

Aleksander Porsev did a good job leading out in Tour de France, but reading beween the lines in norwegian media it seems Kristoff is not happy with him. Marco Haller & Sven-Erik Bystrøm are really blossoming this season and should be in the train somewhere in future races.

Compared to two years ago the Katusha train is night and day. But for next season, if he re-signs with Katusha, he will demand one more strong rider for the train.

Many thanks Eriksen,

I guess the Katusha team is becoming more focused to Kristoff instead of Rodriguez GC ambitions.

Paolini is a good foil for Kristoff also, a good double act a bit like Kittel-Degenkolb.

I wonder if he was to leave Katusha where would he go? - I remember a rumour that the Alonso team was to sign him and Paolini last year.

 

[ingsve]

About the leadout train, in previous years he has also gotten help from Rüdiger Selig and Alexei Tsatevich and of course various other russians if needed but not so much in the final lead out guys.