The now 35-year-old Kristoff is a former winner in some of cycling's biggest races including Milano-Samremo in 2014 and Gent-Wevelgem in 2019 with four stages of the Tour de France also on the Norwegian's palmares. In fact, so impressive are the list of Kristoff's wins, Haugland believes he can be Uno-X's
Wout van Aert equivalent.
“Riders like Alex, they bring something. Look at Alpecin-Deceuninck and how they’re raised by Mathieu van der Poel, look at Jumbo-Visma when they have Van Aert. You see that the whole team is profiting from these incredible riders. For us, Alexander is such a guy," Haugland says. “He never gives up. He never stops and says ‘it’s not possible.’ He has this mentality that, some days, every star will be in the right direction and he will win, and if not, he’s still up there."