Why Kristoff is a beautiful round winner – Het Nieuwsblad

             
 
 
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Since Sunday, April 5th, 2015 Tour of Flanders has a very Noor on his list: Alexander Kristoff. An impressive rider anything but look out of place between Boonen, Cancellara and Museeuw’s record of Flanders’ Most Beautiful. Alxander Kristoff said in recent months repeatedly in interviews his love for the Tour of Flanders. From now that love is entirely mutual.

             

Cycling on Sportwereld.be

Alexander Kristoff filled several years ago effortlessly the hole in which an aging Thor Hushovd in Norwegian cycling had left. After his bronze medal at the Olympic Games in London 2012, Kristoff came a year later on the very surface of the top ten places in Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix and stage wins in smaller stage races. Last year ontbolsterde Kristoff absolute leader of Katusha. After an exciting sprint he wrote Milan-Sanremo in his name. In the Tour of Flanders, he was then fifth. With two stage victories in the Tour de France, he also put himself between sprinter Kittel, Cavendish and Greipel on the card.

2014 was a successful year, so 2015 could hardly be any better? Anyway! Milan-Sanremo this time he was beaten narrowly by Degenkolb, but otherwise he laced in early spring the victories together: stages in Qatar, Oman and Paris-Nice. E3 Harelbeke (4th) and Gent-Wevelgem (9th) revealed no chance for success, but in the Three Days of De Panne-Koksijde Norwegian grabbed grandiose: three stage wins and an unexpectedly strong performance in the final time trial, which earned him the victory. It made Kristoff with nine victories in his pocket as victorious king could descend to the start of the Tour of Flanders.

Suddenly Kristoff was bombed to the absolute top favorite. Our cycling parliament put him at number one and also collected competition invariably named him as one of the main contenders. Nobody wanted to advance Kristoff in his wheel bike to the test in Oudenaarde. That was the gist of all press conferences last Friday.

Unlike Team Sky, Etixx – Quick Step, Lotto Soudal or BMC Kristoff did not have a dominant team that could guide him in case of emergency to the head. Kristoff had to rely mainly on experience and class of Gent-Wevelgem winner Luca Paolini. And, of course, in itself. For Noor simply proved the best man in the race. When Terpstra a breakaway placed Kristoff was the only one who was strong and on their toes enough to slip. On the final passage of the Paterberg – where Terpstra wanted to make a final attack – showed Kristoff just driving too fast. “Did I tried body of cyclists, he had probably been whistling in my wheel,” said the Dutchman afterwards.

In short, Alexander Kristoff is a beautiful winner of the Tour of Flanders. He is the victorious king of the entire platoon, started as a top favorite, drove tactically perfect race, forced himself into the decisive breakaway and made the final supreme off in a sprint with the winner of Paris-Roubaix 2014. Much more is not actually there to add. And it would not surprise us if he’s in the Scheldt Price or Paris-Roubaix would again be on the podium excel. “Paris-Roubaix is ​​actually the big goal,” sounded the beginning of March.

If bouncer we refer again to go back to interview our journalist Jan-Pieter De Vlieger on 20 February in Oman did with Kristoff. “Yes I can win the Tour. I think Terpstra or the man to beat, “said the Norwegian then. (Read the interview here). Prophetic words

name. Kristoff
Name: Alexander
Birth Date: July 5, 1987
Birthplace: Stavanger (Norway)
Nationality: Noor
Length: 1m81
Weight: 78 kg
Prof. Renner since 2007
Teams: Maxbo-Bianchi (2007), wildcard Bianchi (2008-2009), BMC (2010-2011), Katusha (2012-2015)
Honours:
38 professional victories:
2007 1 victory – Norwegian champion on the road
2008: 2 victories – ride Ringerike GP, Norwegian champion criterion
2009: 1 victory – ride Ringerike GP – 7th Druivenkoers Overijse
2010: 10th Scheldt Price, 4th Vattenfall Cyclassics, 8th GP Jef Rens, 10th Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen, 9th Paris-Brussels, 5th GP Fourmies, 7th Championship Flanders
2011: 1 victory – Norwegian champion on the road – 7th Paris-Brussels, 2nd GP Fourmies, 7th Flanders Championship, 5th GP Isbergues
2012: 2 victories – ride Three Days of De Panne, ride Tour of Denmark – 3rd Olympic road race, 9th Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, 15th Tour of Flanders, 17th Scheldt Price, 6th Eschborn-Frankfurt City Loop, 3rd NK, 11th Vattenfall Cyclassics 4th Tour of Denmark, 3rd World Ports Cycling Classic, 14th Paris-Brussels, 2nd GP Fourmies 17th Paris-Tours
2013: 7 victories – ride Three Days of De Panne- Koksijde, ride Tour of Switzerland, 3 rides Tour of Norway, 2 rides Tour des Fjords – 18th Circulation Het Nieuwsblad, 2nd Three Days of De Panne-Koksijde, 4th Tour of Flanders, 5th Scheldt Price, 9th Paris-Roubaix, 2nd NK, 4th Tour des Fjords, Vattenfall Cyclassics 3rd, 4th Brussels Cycling Classic
2014: 14 victories – ride Tour of Oman, Milan-Sanremo, Eschborn-Frankfurt City Loop, 2 round trips in Norway, three rides and play Tour des Fjords, 2 rides Tour de France, 2 rides Artic Race of Norway, Vattenfall Cyclassics – 11th Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, 13th Dwars door Vlaanderen, 11th Gent-Wevelgem, 8th Three Days of De Panne-Koksijde, 5th Round Flanders, 15th Scheldeprijs, 2nd play Artic Race of Norway, 8th GP Plouay, 8th World
2015: 10 victories – 3 rides Tour of Qatar, Oman ride round, ride Paris-Nice 3 rides and play Three Days of De Panne-Koksijde, Tour of Flanders – fulltime 3rd Tour of Qatar, 11th Circulation Het Nieuwsblad, 2nd Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, 2nd Milan-Sanremo, 4th E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem 9th