Alexander Kristoff hopes to cross the finish line first at Milan-San Remo. The Katusha sprinter who has recovered from a pre-season training crash, wants to win the first monument of 2016.

"I didn’t win any [Paris-Nice] stages in 2014 when I won here, so maybe it’s good luck for me," he told Cyclingnews this Friday in Milan. "I feel my condition is good and I did everything I could. I had a good season start and I performed OK in Paris-Nice, so I did what I should."

He is the favourite according to the bookmakers but unlike previous years he won't have Luca Paolini as his key rider for the finale

"Even though I’m from Norway, I prefer the nice weather. I won this race in really bad conditions two years ago but I still look forward to a sunny Sanremo. If the attackers make the race hard in the hills, I’ll use my team-mates to keep the race together. In the past two years, I had Luca Paolini to guide me in the sprint. It’ll be different this time but I have faith in my team-mates."

This year, he has won five times : three stages at the Tour of Qatar and two at the Tour of Oman. He finished second at Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne, behind Jesper Stuyven (Trek Segafredo).