With fourteen riders out of contract this year Katusha Alpecin's general manager José Azevedo has his work cut out as he looks to build a squad for next season but the former rider isn't worried as he enters negotiations with several of his riders.
The team's best GC rider in Ilnur Zakarin and their most successful sprinter, Alexander Kristoff, are both out of contract and can officially sign for new teams at the start of August. It's highly unlikely, according to Azevedo that Zakarin will leave the team but the situation surrounding Kristoff remains uncertain.
The Norwegian has been offered a contract extension but it is reportedly less than his current deal of 2 million Euros, before bonuses, per-year. Interest from Astana is well known and Kristoff has already ruffled feathers by claiming the Katusha management has called him overweight this season. Whether that was an act designed to initiate a move or trigger an improved offer remains to be seen but Azevedo's priority is to tie-up the riders he wants to keep before looking at the rest of the transfer market.
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"We're working on this. We have a number of riders at the end of their contracts but that doesn't mean that they're going to leave the team. We're in the process of making the team for next year," he told Cyclingnews at the Criterium du Dauphine.
As for Zakarin, who spearheaded the team's Giro d'Italia challenge, Azevedo would only add that, "he's at the end of his contract but we're not worried about this," before chuckling to himself.
Kristoff's situation is somewhat more delicate. He has not won a major Classic since 2015 and although that hardly makes him a relic both him and the team are looking at their options. The Norwegian has won the bulk of the team's victories this year, which perhaps suggests why Katusha are still open to keeping the sprinter, although on a reduced salary.
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