Alexander Kristoff

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Aug 29, 2009
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and after winning the Ronde on Sunday, next year he'll be able to ride for whatever team he wants to, is what I read in Norwegian media :p
 
Jul 28, 2015
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If he continues to link up well with Gaviria I don't think he should leave, in classics is an advantage for him having Gaviria and essentially he has to play the lead out role only at the Tour (and UAE Tour for obvious reasons) as in other phases of the season they split the calendar and he can sprint for himself.
 
Jun 20, 2015
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Except most other teams will have him a leader at a GT - It's a no-brainer that Kristoff leaves UAE.
 
Nov 16, 2013
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Yeah, and on his Instagram post after Gent-Wevelgem he snuck in the hashtag #yearoftolerance.

I think that tells it all.
 
Jul 28, 2015
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Re:

yaco said:
Except most other teams will have him a leader at a GT - It's a no-brainer that Kristoff leaves UAE.
If he wants to be the leader in a GT yes but he could still ride the Vuelta as leader at UAE, if he wants to be the leader in the Tour i can't see a lot of teams offering that for him (along leader status for the classics).
AG2R, Bora, CCC, Deceunink, Dimension Data, EF, Lotto, Groupama, Jumbo, Mitchelton, Movistar, Sky, Sunweb, Trek have all sprinters/classics leaders and/or other plans for the Tour.
Astana doesn't have a leader for the classics and a sprinter but I don't know if they want one.
For Bahrain could be an upgrade of Colbrelly but also in their case I'm not sure they want to considering also that next year they'll likely sign a new GC leader for the Tour and in the classics they are developing Cortina, Mohoric is showing potential and also Teuns is interested in cobbles.
There is only Katusha left in the WT or an eventual new team like Israel Cycling Academy.
 
Aug 28, 2012
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Re: Re:

Nirvana said:
yaco said:
Except most other teams will have him a leader at a GT - It's a no-brainer that Kristoff leaves UAE.
If he wants to be the leader in a GT yes but he could still ride the Vuelta as leader at UAE, if he wants to be the leader in the Tour i can't see a lot of teams offering that for him (along leader status for the classics).
AG2R, Bora, CCC, Deceunink, Dimension Data, EF, Lotto, Groupama, Jumbo, Mitchelton, Movistar, Sky, Sunweb, Trek have all sprinters/classics leaders and/or other plans for the Tour.
Astana doesn't have a leader for the classics and a sprinter but I don't know if they want one.
For Bahrain could be an upgrade of Colbrelly but also in their case I'm not sure they want to considering also that next year they'll likely sign a new GC leader for the Tour and in the classics they are developing Cortina, Mohoric is showing potential and also Teuns is interested in cobbles.
There is only Katusha left in the WT or an eventual new team like Israel Cycling Academy.

Cofidis are looking to move back to the WT, if they can keep a lot of Bouhanni's guys around it's surely a good option for Kristoff.
 
Mar 14, 2009
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Bora would be a great fit.

He would be a good domestique for Sagan during the classics and good lead-out for Bennet and that German sprinter Pascal ...
 

KZD

Feb 21, 2019
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There is a very slim chance that Bennett continues at Bora.Kristoff still has the speed of a second tier sprinter so he should stay away from Bora. CCC would be a great fit, I believe
 
Dec 6, 2013
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I am giving AK a good shot for this weekend. His form is good an he did some January recon of the stones so...

As for next year? It wouldn't surprise me either way: stay or move on.
 
Apr 3, 2016
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Re:

Jancouver said:
Bora would be a great fit.

He would be a good domestique for Sagan during the classics and good lead-out for Bennet and that German sprinter Pascal ...

Provided they can hold the wheel in the finish;)
 
Dec 6, 2013
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"I took a big risk using tubeless tires". WT?! One of the biggest races of the year and you take a big risk on tires? I'm not even blaming tubeless tires, I'm blaming AK and his team. If you haven't thoroughly tested the tires, don't use them. I assumed that he tested them when he was working on the stones over the winter. The "its not the same when your are in the pack..." doesn't hold water either. When you test tires, you test them to the extremes and/or in race like conditions/scenarios. I wouldn't even call this an amateur mistake because most amateurs wouldn't make the same mistake.
 
Nov 16, 2013
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Re:

jmdirt said:
"I took a big risk using tubeless tires". WT?! One of the biggest races of the year and you take a big risk on tires? I'm not even blaming tubeless tires, I'm blaming AK and his team. If you haven't thoroughly tested the tires, don't use them. I assumed that he tested them when he was working on the stones over the winter. The "its not the same when your are in the pack..." doesn't hold water either. When you test tires, you test them to the extremes and/or in race like conditions/scenarios. I wouldn't even call this an amateur mistake because most amateurs wouldn't make the same mistake.

He says that he used them in the Flemish races and in training on the Roubaix cobbles. It's difficult to simulate race conditions any better than that.
 
Jun 10, 2017
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Only he knows the exact scenario that led to his punctures, but he seems to be admitting/claiming that it was a race-specific situation that they couldn’t/didn’t recreate in training. I can’t help thinking that whatever caused the flats, couldn’t it just as easily have flatted a tub as well? There has to be a very fine line of incident on the cobbles that would a) cause a flat in a well-sealed, properly set up tubeless tire and b) not cause the same in a tubular.

(I’ve used clinchers all my life and have no skin in the tubs/tubeless game, but just wondering if he doth protesteth too much over how much it was the tires’ fault).
 
I knew he was gonna fail when I read that he would ride 25 mm tyres. All science suggests that wide tyre have equal rolling resistance compared to narrow ones. A big guy like him should ride 30 mm.
 
Dec 6, 2013
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When you win a stage of the TdF, and wear yellow too, your thread has to get pulled up!

Congrats AK! Many have been counting him out for years, but he seems to be able to tick off a big win or two every season. Plus, it seems that this was the perfect type of finish for him, but obviously good legs make any fish perfect!
 
Jun 24, 2017
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I've had a soft spot for Kristoff for quite a while. Mainly because I think that if I was a world class cyclist I'd be similar to Kristoff concerning abilities. Good sprinter with very good endurance and decent climbing abilities. Able to survive some hills but certainly not if it gets too steep or very explosive, just because of weight.

I hope he can fight for green this Tour.