Alexander Kristoff has achieved great success in 2015, 20 wins, aided by leadout men Marco Haller and Jacopo Guarnieri. The team wants their star rider to keep winning, and have signed Dane Michael Morkov from Tinkoff-Saxo as another leadout option, especially in the Classics.

“We’ve been working on the sprint train during the training camp, and we’ve been looking for the best position for each of them,” Katusha sport director José Azevedo told VeloNews. “Haller has done a great job leading out Kristoff, and Morkov will give us another option.”

“Those three riders (Morkov, Guarnieri and Haller ed.) will be around Alex all season long. It’s important for a big leader to have support like that,” Azevedo said. “Alex deserves it. Any rider who wins 20 races in a season deserves big support.”

Azevedo acknowledged just how strong the sprinting game is right now, but says Kristoff’s record speaks for itself and as a consequence, the team has no problems backing the two-time Monument winner.

“The level of sprinters is very high right now, but we confide 100 percent in Alex,” Azevedo said. “Alex is among the best sprinters in the world. The team is going to be working for him next season even more. We will be stronger in the sprints. He’s our leader. He deserves it.”