UAE Team Emirates’ fine season continued as riders Alexander Kristoff and Rui Costa simultaneously achieved podium finishes at Eschborn-Frankfurt and the Tour of Romandie.
Kristoff secured another podium finish at Eschborn-Frankfurt, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be a fifth successive victory for the sprinter.
A breakaway ruled the early hours of the race, but they were eventually caught by the ferocious pace of the chasing group in the final kilometres. Approaching the closing meters, Kristoff began his sprint, but with 200m to go he bumped against Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe); the collision forced the Norwegian to reset and move towards the centre of the road.
He battled hard with the other sprinters to cross the line in third behind eventual winner Ackermann and second placed John Degenkolb (Trek- Segafredo).
Commenting on the podium finish, Kristoff said: “Today my feelings were not perfect, so much so that on the undulating section, I slipped behind a couple of times.
“I was able to return to the group thanks to the support of Rory Sutherland and (Stake) Vegard Laengen. On the final circuit, I tried to hold on to the sprint, but I wasn’t brilliant.
“It was a pity we didn’t manage to prolong the winning streak in this race but given the feelings I had today, the podium is a good result.”
There was also a podium finish for former world champion, Costa, who is currently competing at the Tour of Romandie.
After a good performance in the prologue – where he picked up 10th place – Costa secured another strong result, placing third on Stage 1; the result promoting him to second place in the General Classification (GC) standings.
Costa said: “I am satisfied with today’s result that came after battling with high-level rider. I tried to make the most of the good work done by my team-mates, who were very alert and kept me protected the whole stage.
“In the sprint, I gave my best, but (Tom) Roglic was very fast. Still, I take a lot of morale from the first two days of the Tour de Romandie.”
