Kristoff: "I am 33 years old, 4 children and I am still winning in the biggest race in the world"

Special envoy to Nice,

The 1st stage of the Tour de France (Nice-Nice; 156 km) was to end in a sprint. The sprint went well but for the rest nothing went as planned. The 1st stage launched under the threat of rain was abundantly watered, transforming the road into an ice rink. Falls followed the falls affecting the leaders (Pinot, Lopez, Alaphilippe) or the guardian angels (Sivakov, Gaudu…). At the end of the Promenade des Anglais, an angry fist slashed through the air, that addressed by the Norwegian Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) who, at 33, offered himself, after his 4th stage victory on the Tour, a first yellow jersey: "I am 33 years old, 4 children and despite that, I still win in the biggest race in the world."

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"I'm a little surprised to win today."

In strength, the Norwegian was ahead of Mads Pedersen (Trek), Cees Bol (Sunweb), Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step) and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hangsgrohe). To the angels, the one who won Milan-San Remo (2014), the Tour of Flanders (2015), Gand-Wevelgem (2019) or was European champion and who is targeting the Flandrian autumn campaign, summed up: " I am really proud to have won. The first stage of the Tour couldn't be better. And as a bonus, I'm putting on the yellow jersey for the first time in my career ... I'm going to have fun wearing it tomorrow (this Sunday) in the race. I'm a little surprised to win today even though I knew it was possible. But in general we lose more than we gain. It gives me a lot of confidence for future sprints. Lots of guys have fallen. Jumbo-Visma started to calm the peloton down. People were falling around every corner, it was really slippery. It was a good initiative, nobody wants to see contenders for the general classification being eliminated in the first stage. ”

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"It was a dangerous day with the road so slippery."

On the same wavelength as Kristoff (first Norwegian yellow jersey since Thor Hushovd in 2011), the Irish sprinter Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step), added about the special conditions that accompanied this 1st stage: “It was a dangerous day with the road so slippery. I was well on the climb, the problem is that we went slowly and neutralized the descent. Other competitors were able to join the peloton. I really fought to stay up front and some were able to come back easily. I could have saved myself and sprinted with fresher legs in the final. But I think it was a good decision to do everything to be safe even if when you made an effort, you want the race to continue. ”

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• Kristoff, Pinot, Alaphilippe: what to remember from the first stage of the Tour