“A Classics victory and a stage win in the Tour de France, that would be perfection” - Alexander Kristoff on his goals for this season

After a difficult season in 2023, where he only picked up two wins and was largely anonymous for most of the Classics and the Tour de France, Alexander Kristoff seems to be slowly finding his form again.

The Uno-X rider began his season with a second place finish at the Trofeo Palma and recently finished in second place on the final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico behind Jonathan Milan. Kristoff is now set to race at Milano-Torino, before returning to Milano-Sanremo where he took the victory in 2014.

In an interview with WielerFlits, Kristoff commented on his poor form from last season, as he said that “I had hoped for better results for myself, but I had to deal with too many small problems at the beginning of the season. I didn't have much luck, but hopefully I have saved up all my luck for this year”.

On his goals for this season Kristoff went on to say that “if everything goes one hundred percent perfect this year, then I can hope for a Classics victory and a stage win in the Tour de France, that would be perfection. But of course I also realise that I have to compete against more and more young guys”.

Now at the age of 36 years old, Kristoff is a veteran of the professional peloton. On whether he feels like he is still able to compete, he said that “I now notice that maintaining your explosiveness for the sprints is the most difficult thing. But you shouldn't imagine too much about it either. Look at Mark Cavendish, who won a stage in the Giro last year. And Mark is older than me, so age can also be relative”.

After La Classicissima this weekend, Kristoff will head to Belgium to take part in several cobbled Classics, including Gent-Wevelgem, Scheldeprijs and the Ronde van Vlaanderen, all of which he has won previously.