Norwegian rider takes the blame after a good leadout from Katusha
Image 1 of 5
Alexander Kristoff (Katusha)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alexander Kristoff (Katusha)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
John Degenkolb and Alexander Kristoff position for the sprint.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
No birthday stage win for Alexander Kristoff (Katusha)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The sprinters bear down on the finish of 15 at the 2015 Tour de France.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) leaned over his handlebars 100 metres after the finish line in Valence, breathing in mouthfuls of air as he tried to recover from his sprint effort and the pain of the tough stage, with sweat dripping from his brow after another hard day of racing at the Tour de France in the heat of southern France.
Despite the disappointment of being beaten by Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) yet again, with John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) also going past him to take second, the Kristoff patiently answered questions from the Norwegian media, who wanted to know every detail of the sprint, what went wrong and why.
After speaking in Norwegian, Kristoff also gave his version of things in English, sportingly admitting that Greipel had fully deserved to win.
“Today Greipel and Degenkolb were just stronger. He beat me fair and square,” Kristoff said.
Kristoff avoided passing any blame to his teammates, pointing the finger at himself.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
