A comparison of Alexander Kristoff’s 2014 and 2015 schedules offers a decent illustration of his progress. This day twelve months ago, the Norwegian was at E3 Harelbeke, but only to take part in an exhibition sprint match put on to entertain the crowds on the finishing straight as they awaited the arrival of the main event after an afternoon amid the cobbles and hills of the Flemish Ardennes.
This time around, Kristoff was no side show, but one of the principal attractions. Indeed, his was the name that recurred with most frequency when rider after rider was asked to name his danger man by the television crews huddled beneath the signing on rostrum.
Kristoff was certainly the natural favourite in the event of a sizable group sprint but despite the headwind in the closing kilometres, he saw his hopes of a bunch finish fade when Greg Van Avermaet crashed with 17 kilometres remaining, ending BMC’s interest in organising the pursuit.
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Although Kristoff’s Katusha teammates Luca Paolini and Alexandr Kolobnev looked to breathe life into the chase in the finale, they could make no inroads into the advantage of the winning break, which had gone clear on the Kwaremont.
“I couldn’t follow the best on the Kwaremont but I was strong. Then I thought we’d catch the break but they were too strong and we had some bad luck too, with BMC crashing on a corner. Maybe it would have been a different result if that crash didn’t happen,” Kristoff said.
At one point, Paolini could be seen remonstrating to lament the lack of cooperation in the 26-strong chasing group, though Katusha themselves could arguably have done more to help out earlier. “I thought it was coming back together but then everything stopped and that’s a pity,” said Kristoff.
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