Alexander Kristoff will have a trusted group of bodyguards to try to win another monument in the spring classics. The group around the Norwegian is gaining experience and should be able to provide important support.

At the official presentation of Team Katusha last Saturday, the riders were called to the scene in groups and the classics block was composed of eight riders: leader Kristoff, Jacopo Guarnieri, Marco Haller, Sven-Erik Bystrom, Alexander Porsev, Viacheslav Kuznetsov, Alexei Tsatevich and Michael Morkov who is the only new signing.

Kristoff took an important step with his victory in Milan-San Remo in 2014 and confirmed his potential this year, winning the Tour of Flanders, his dream race, Scheldeprijs and the Tree Days of De Panne and taking second behind Degenkolb in San Remo and behind Mark Cavendish in Kuurne -Brussels-Kuurne and tenth in Roubaix. He was the rider with most wins in 2015.

Since his arrival at the Russian team in 2012, the Norwegian has not only improved personally but has also made sure to gather a solid group for the cobbles around him. Guarnieri (1987) arrived in 2015 and immediately became an important part of the group while also acting as the final lead-out man in the sprints and next year he will have Morkov (1985) who arrives from Tinkoff-Saxo, at his side. The Dane will replace Luca Paolini who is provisionally suspended by the UCI for a positive cocaine test. The Italian was instrumental in Kristoff’s win in San Remo in 2014 and his second place this year.

Haller (1991) is another man made for the cobblestones, a huge bodyguard for Kristoff who improved a lot in 2015. The same is true for Kuznetsov (1989) who is also a huge talent while Porsev (1986) and Tsatevich (1989) are strong domestiques and solid sprinters in their own right. Like Kristoff, they are all at their best age and promise to form a solid group. The youngest rider is Bystrom (1992), U23 world champion in Ponferrada in 2014 who is going into his second year as a professional.