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With palm trees and a massive dried-up riverbed for a view for the team buses at the start of stage 3 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, not to mention a chilly early morning breeze in the air, in some ways, the backstreets of the Spanish coastal town of Burriana this February could hardly feel further from summer and the Tour de France.
But for Uno-X Pro Cycling Team in general and Alexander Kristoff in particular, for all the Classics are fast looming on the horizon as the most immediate major targets, the prospect of being the first Norwegian team ever to take part in cycling’s biggest event come July is simply impossible to ignore. And not absolutely everything is ideal about it.
“For sure, I was thinking maybe I would have a summer vacation, but now that’s not going to happen,” Kristoff says with his characteristically dry humour.
“You never know because you can be sick or injured, either. But I’m looking forward to it, I hope I can do it.”
Scandinavians are not exactly well-known for getting effusive about their feelings, and Kristoff, a four-time Tour de France stage winner, first points out the actual racing in itself this summer will not be new to him at all.
But even the veteran Classics man can’t avoid the sense that he’ll be taking part in something groundbreaking for Norwegian sport come July 1 and the Grand Depart at Bilbao.
“I’m proud, too, because it’s a historic moment for my country’s cycling. It’s cool to be part of it with the first Norwegian team, something to tell your kids and grandkids.”
However, as a rider with two Monuments to his name along with a host of other top one-day races, including an untypical solo win at Scheldeprijs last April, on a practical level, Kristoff is keeping his eye firmly on the ball on what’s in store in the next couple of months.
“For sure, we have this big goal in the summer, but for me, I’m not focussed there yet because Classics are coming,” the 35-year-old, who is making his debut in Uno-X colours at Valenciana, points out. “I focus more on the day-by-day or month-by-month rather than half-year by half-year.”
As for the Classics, the former Milano-San Remo and Tour of Flanders winner says, “After Algarve, I should be up there. Opening Weekend is generally not so good for me, but after this, I get to go to Paris-Nice, so that’s when I hope to be hitting my top shape. And maybe,” he adds with a slow smile, “I can win Scheldeprijs again.”
Their maiden 2023 win – a stage in the Saudi Tour – he points…
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