Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) starts Milan-San Remo wearing race number one after winning in 2014. He is arguably the favourite amongst the many contenders for this year’s race due to his ability to handle the late climbs and then produce a long powerful sprint in Via Roma.
Last year he beat Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing), Ben Swift (Team Sky) Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) and Mark Cavendish (Etixx-Quickstep) after a group of 25 riders formed after the Poggio. He timed his sprint perfectly and charged down the middle of the road to win by more than a bike length. It was only his third Milan-San Remo but he seemed perfect for the race.
Just 24 hours before hoping to repeat the same finish, Kristoff was cool and collected as he spoke to the media, his Norwegian character stronger than the emotions of riding the first big Classic of the season. Of course riding as the last winner will make for a special day.
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“It’s a special race because it was my first big monument win, that makes it special,” he explained. “I did it three times before: I’ve won it once and another time I was in the top ten, so I’ve always had a good feeling in this race and I hope to continue that tomorrow.”
Kristoff again rode Paris-Nice to prepare for Milan-San Remo, winning stage one ahead of Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) and Bryan Coquard (Europcar). He has won five races this year, including three stages at the Tour of Qatar.
“I won last year and I’ve had a good start, so I must expect to be amongst the favourites,” he said. “But Milan-San Remo is a wide open race, so many guys can win in different ways. You can win it in a sprint, as I did, you can go away in a small group on the Poggio or even before. That means there are a lot of favourites, maybe 20 riders can win tomorrow.
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