When you've clocked 1182 race days as a professional with 97 wins including two Monuments, four Grand Tour stages and also worn the iconic yellow jersey at the Tour de France along the way, you might think it would be hard to pick out a highlight. However, for Alexander Kristoff one victory 10 years ago trumps all – the Tour of Flanders.
A decade on from 2015 and still Kristoff sees his triumph at the Ronde van Vlaanderen as the pinnacle. After getting away on the Kruisberg 28km from the line with Niki Terpstra, who would win Flanders himself three years later, the Norwegian did the lion's share of the work on the approach to the finish. Kristoff was then not only imperious on the Paterberg but ensured it would come down to a one-on-one sprint in Oudenaarde.
There could only be one winner. It's the solitary opportunity Kristoff has ever had to compete for Flanders glory in a lead group and he took it. Leading out the sprint he had Terpstra lurking behind but it was never in doubt when they opened up. Kristoff outpoured the Dutchman to become Norway's first, and to date only, ever Ronde winner.
"That was the best day of my life as a rider, the best ever result," Kristoff told Cyclingnews, speaking six days before his 14th appearance at the Ronde.
"I remember I was not having the best day during the race. I was struggling quite a bit but in the end, everybody was fading, and I could keep my same power in the last climbs.
"So actually, on the Kruisberg just before the attack, I felt really good, and then we went just before Hotond. It's a long time ago now, 10 years, a decade, so it's hard to remember everything but I still reckon it is the best result in my career."
Kristoff reflects on his crowning day from current team Uno-X Mobility's base for the Belgian Classics, just at the base of the iconic Koppenberg. It's a block of racing the Norwegian has done many times over the years, his first Gent-Wevelgem for example was in 2010. Many things are similar, including the bergs that will decide the next Flanders winner on Sunday, however, the protagonists are different.
"Not much has changed. The speed is faster but the race is more or less the same. But I will say it was Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara when I was young who were strong, now it's Mathieu van der Poel, Mads Pedersen and Tadej Pogačar," says Kristoff.
"So I don't know if Flanders changes so much but cycling is always changing a bit. You know, we are more aero now, we are faster, people train and eat better. But that's normal evolution."
Boonen and Cancellara were absent when Kristoff took victory in 2015 as early season crashes had ruled them out of the Tour of Flanders. They'd won the past three editions between them but, even without them on the startline, Kristoff was still far from the favourite after having missed out at the E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem the week prior. It might not have been in the fashion today's superstars win Flanders but all Kristoff had to do was beat the other 199 starters that day, and beat them he did.
Kristoff does acknowledge the trend of longer and longer solo victories performed by the three men mentioned above. Van der Poel destroyed everyone at Flanders and Roubaix solo last year and Pogačar has monstered his way to both the world title and Strade Bianche with ridiculous solo efforts over 80km from the finish in recent years.
"I was never really on their level, like the best guys that can go so early," says Kristoff modestly. "I won Flanders in 2015 but I didn't go from that far away. I went with Terpstra maybe 20k to go.
"You need incredible strength to be able to go solo from a distance like this, and it's never been something I could even consider doing. But when you are the best or when the best guys are in front, it is always difficult to catch them.
"If you are weaker like everyone compared to Mads [Pedersen] at Gent-Wevelgem, who was by far the strongest, you see how it was a deserved victory. But it's still a bit shit for us that we could not catch him."
Kristoff showed signs of that previous world-beating best as he took fourth at the brutally tough race into Wevelgem last weekend, only losing to a dominant Dane and the two fastest sprinters in the world – Tim Merlier and Jonathan Milan.
That was even though he raced the final with a slow flat front tyre that he sustained around 70km from the line.
"I had maybe 2.0 bar in my front wheel, and it happened on the Plugstreets. I was too scared to stop because I thought if I stopped now to change the wheel, I would not come back," he recalls.
"I was just racing the last part of the race with very low pressure, and of course, it takes a little bit extra energy, but I think in the end was the right decision, because I still got fourth."
Still, Kristoff is under no illusion that a group the size he and Terpstra attacked out of 10 years ago in Flanders will still be in contention when it is five-and-a-half hours into the action on Sunday. Pogačar and Van der Poel are likely to have made the selection long before then.
"For sure, it's possible for them to attack there, but usually they go even earlier. You never know, maybe if they neutralise each other a bit, but still nowadays the best guys tend to work together just to get rid of everybody else and be safe for a good result," says the 37-year-old.
"Then they make it up between each other at the end in the last part of the race. So you could still see maybe an attack from where I got away from a selected group, but you see it all the time in the racing now, usually the big selection comes a bit earlier than 10 years ago."
Kristoff has long been a shoo-in for a good result at Flanders, managing top-five finishes in more than half of his appearances. In this new age of long-range attackers, though, anticipation may be the only way he returns to such a high final ranking.
"Getting ahead early is the best option if it's possible to beat them and still that is very difficult to pull off, and it's also difficult to get away as everyone has the same tactic," says Kristoff.
"That's the only option if you want to win the race but I think for [Uno-X Mobility's] goal we need to be realistic and it is not very realistic that we're gonna win. We probably have a goal to get a good result in the top 10, and we will be pleased with that, and from there the higher up the better."
Chasing a win century before retiring
When Kristoff won the Tour of Flanders, Pogačar was still just a junior rider, Van der Poel was only beginning his legacy having won his first cyclocross world title of seven that year. It's no secret that the 37-year-old is one of the veterans of the peloton, and he confirms to Cyclingnews that 2025 is "probably" going to be his final season.
He's got nothing left to prove as one of the finest riders in the past 15 years but there is one achievement and three more wins he would like to claim before hanging up the wheels. His record currently sits at 97 pro wins and the pursuit of a century is giving him that extra push in these final appearances.
"It's my goal this year to make it to 100 so it keeps the motivation at least good for the last year," says Kristoff.
"I should maybe change the race program because it's hard to win these biggest Classics. I should maybe race to the smaller races in France to be able to reach it," he laughs.
"But I have some chances like at the Scheldeprijs, which I've won two times. Maybe it's a chance depending on if it's windy which is when I feel quite good. Then I'm doing more smaller races after the Classics so I hope I will reach 100 before this season is over."
He has already managed one with a long effort to overhaul Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers) at the Vuelta a Andalucia but even if Kristoff doesn't hit the target it sounds as though he's ready for an end to the complex life of a professional cyclist.
"I'm 38 years old this year and there's a time for everything. I've been doing these races all my life and now I have a big family at home and a lot of responsibilities also there," he says. "When you're here for almost a month it's a lot for your wife to handle alone and then you have a new month in July [at the Tour de France], so it's not perfect with a big family and small kids to combine with being a professional cyclist.
"Even when you're home at the weekends, you still need to train maybe five, six hours and then the day is gone and you cannot do something with your kids. You give a lot to the sport, of course, then it costs quite a lot for your family."
What will he do with his time? Spending time with his children, staying in shape and real estate were the endeavours he outlined as he spoke to Cyclingnews. "So for the first year, at least, I have enough to do, and we'll see in the future if it gets too boring at home."
For Kristoff, the team he ends his career at is also an important factor to note – Uno-X Mobility – the best Norwegian team in cycling and one of the squads pursuing a WorldTour licence in the near future. It only seems right that his farewell races are spent with them.
"It's kind of full circle," he says, "like the circle ended when I signed there because I have some of my directors the same as I had in juniors at the start of my career with team Joker before I turned pro. So I feel really at home, and we have a very good atmosphere in the team.
"The team is performing better and better year by year. I don't feel like I'd be leaving the team and they have nobody following up. We have guys like Søren Wærenskjold, who won at Opening Weekend, he's a really fast sprinter and also good in Classics so it's not like my spot is empty – it's already filled."
