Alexander Kristoff got the monkey of his back in the Tour of Oman, just in time before leaving for Abu Dhabi where wins will be difficult to come by for the sprinter.
After falling agonisingly short on several stages of the Dubai Tour, Kristoff finally stamped his maiden victory with UAE Team Emirates on stage six in Oman on Sunday.
The Norwegian was satisfied to see everything come together in a race after being limited to two fourth and two seventh-place finishes in Dubai.
“It’s always nice to get the first win, every year,” Kristoff told Sport360°.
“In the Tour of Dubai, we had not trained together so much for the sprints so it was difficult and we didn’t manage to time it correct, so I didn’t get any super good results. So it was nice that we finally came really good together and yesterday the team did really perfect work.
“We showed if we do things correctly, we can win sprints. It was a nice team victory.”
🏁 LAST KILOMETRE 🏁@Kristoff87 displayed raw power and enjoyed a perfect lead-out, featuring World champion @RuiCostaCyclist, to claim the win on the Matrah Corniche ahead of @bryancoquard & @Giacomonizzolo #TOO2018 @TeamUAEAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/nwkYjhBpSY
— Tour of Oman (@tourofoman) February 18, 2018
Leaving Dubai empty-handed was surely a disappointment for UAE Team Emirates and likely means added pressure on the side to come away with more success in the capital.
Kristoff, however, recognises his role in the Abu Dhabi Tour will be different to the one he played in Dubai.
With Abu Dhabi featuring a summit finish that could once again decide the general classification as it did last year, Kristoff will support his climber team-mates Fabio Aru, who will make his UAE Team Emirates debut, and Rui Costa, the reigning champion.
“Now that we managed to get a win in Oman, that took a little bit of pressure off. But for sure, we are on home ground and the lineup we have is very good,” Kristoff said.
“But it’s not maybe so good for the sprints and I think the main goal for the team is the GC. With the last day with the uphill finish, we have a really strong squad for this. Then in the sprints if we can get one stage, I think that will be a bonus since we have maybe three riders in the sprint train and will compete against full trains of other teams.”
