Despite reports last week, where Luca Paolini claimed that his Katusha-teammate Alexander Kristoff was going to do the Giro-Vuelta double next season, Kristoff himself revealed yesterdat to Cyclingnews.com that he will be focussing on the Tour de France yet again. One of his main goals for 2015 will be to win the Green jersey in July.
Other major main targets will be the Spring Classics, where he is especially interested in defending his title in Milan-San Remo. His third big goal is to become World Champion.
"I will try to win and it would be a dream come true to win the World Championships. You can't win everything though. We will try to win everything, but we will see," Kristoff told Cyclingnews
Kristoff is coming off a great season that saw him scoop up wins in some of the biggest races of the year, including Milan-San Remo.
"Last year was an incredible season where I had 14 victories, a monument and two victories in the Tour," he said. "I know that I am now one of the best in the world, maybe not the best in the world but I can get results in some of the biggest races. It's nice to be one of the guys who can be one of the favorites in the biggest races."
The Norwegian has big ideas about what he'd like to achieve next year, and first up will be the defense of his Milan-San Remo title. The defense has been made somewhat easier by RCS deciding to scrap the Pompeiana for 2015. The switch back to the finish on the Via Roma could provide a stumbling block for him, but Kristoff is altogether happy with the new route.
"That [finish] is the difficult part because maybe there are more attacks on the Poggio," he said. "It will be exciting though because anyone can win. It could come from an attack or a sprint, you never really know. It's nice also for the public to watch it on the television also. I always loved to watch San Remo because you never know what will happen in the end."
The Cobble Classics will also be a major objective for the 27-year old rider. Kristoff spoke about his love for the 'Ronde van Vlaanderen'.
"I don't know why but I think that is the race that suits me best. I actually feel better on these short climbs on the cobbles," said Kristoff. "I always liked Flanders and I always raced better there, although I can't say that now that I have won San Remo, but I think Flanders last year was my best year. I've never raced so strong before. I hope I can make a podium or win Flanders one day."
After the Spring Classics, Kristoff will focus on the Tour de France. Last year he was very succesfull in 'le Grand Boucle', where he won two stages. This year however, he will have to share leadership with Joaquim Rodriguez. The Norwegian sees no problems in the teams plans to focus on both him and his Spanish teammate.
"It will be good for both of us because if one of us isn't good then the other can take a bit more of the pressure," he said. "As long as he has a really strong climber like Moreno so that he is not alone, I think it will be ok. For sure we will need some hybrid guy who can fight on the flat stages and the climbs but he must be a strong guy because it will be difficult for him."
Kristoff's main objective in the Tour de France will be the Green Jersey. He talked about the impact the changes in the points-system will have on the battle for the green jersey.
"With the new rules I think it will be exciting. I don't think it will just be me or Sagan, I think [Mark] Cavendish and [Marcel] Kittel will also be there, it depends who gets the most victories," he explained. "If Kittel can win four stages then he suddenly has the green jersey. I look forward to see what the changes do to the classification in the end."
As already pointed out, Kristoff's final goal will be the World Champoinships in Richmond. Whether he will do the Vuelta as preparation for the Worlds, or ride the one-day races he successfully rode this year is unclear at this moment.
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