ALEXANDER KRISTOFF
Alexander Kristoff, né le 5 juillet 1987 à Stavanger, est un coureur cycliste norvégien, membre de l'équipe Katusha. Professionnel depuis 2006, il a notamment remporté Milan-San Remo en 2014. Il a obtenu la médaille de bronze de la course en ligne des Jeux olympiques de 2012 et a été champion de Norvège sur route en 2007 et 2011.
Taille : 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Poids : 78 kg (12 st 4 lb)
Il est vainqueur des 12è et 15è étapes du Tour de France 2014.
Team Katusha
En cinq participations au Tour de France, l’équipe russe Katusha, héritière de la première formation Tinkoff, née en 2006 à l’échelon continental avec, déjà, Pavel Brutt, porteur du maillot de champion de Russie dans ses nombreuses tentatives d’échappées en 2011, a récolté deux victoires d’étapes : l’une à ses débuts sur la Grande Boucle, en 2009, par son capitaine de route Sergeï Ivanov, désormais retiré des pelotons, l’autre en 2010, au sommet de la montée de la côte de la Croix Neuve Laurent Jalabert à Mende, où Joaquim Rodriguez a supplanté son compatriote Alberto Contador.
Taille : 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Poids : 78 kg (12 st 4 lb)
Il est vainqueur des 12è et 15è étapes du Tour de France 2014.
Team Katusha
En cinq participations au Tour de France, l’équipe russe Katusha, héritière de la première formation Tinkoff, née en 2006 à l’échelon continental avec, déjà, Pavel Brutt, porteur du maillot de champion de Russie dans ses nombreuses tentatives d’échappées en 2011, a récolté deux victoires d’étapes : l’une à ses débuts sur la Grande Boucle, en 2009, par son capitaine de route Sergeï Ivanov, désormais retiré des pelotons, l’autre en 2010, au sommet de la montée de la côte de la Croix Neuve Laurent Jalabert à Mende, où Joaquim Rodriguez a supplanté son compatriote Alberto Contador.
Russes et Kazakhs semblaient partis pour dominer le cyclisme avec leurs méga budgets tirés de l’exploitation du gaz et du pétrole, mais le "Russian Global Cycling Project", qui a affiché les formes du Kremlin sur les maillots de ses coureurs, n’a pas progressé au rythme souhaité par ses dirigeants, qui ont trop traîné à attirer le moteur attendu par la Russie cycliste : Denis Menchov, vainqueur du Giro et double lauréat de la Vuelta, 3e du Tour de France 2010, mais en bout de course, il a pris sa retraite au printemps 2013.
En revanche, Katusha a brillé sur la Grande Boucle lorsque "Purito" Rodriguez, habitué aux deuxièmes places sur le Giro et la Vuelta, est monté avec ses enfants, Pablo et Elsa, sur le podium de la centième édition auprès de Chris Froome et Nairo Quintana. Les victoires d’étapes au Dauphiné 2014 de Yuriy Trofimov et Simon Spilak ont rappelé que l’écurie russe a plusieurs cordes à son arc.
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Alexander Kristoff (born 5 July 1987) is a Norwegian professional road bicycle racer with the UCI ProTeam Team Katusha.
At six, he moved from Oslo to Stavanger. His stepfather got him interested in cycling rather than football. He started riding for Stavanger SK. At 16 he won the Norwegian youth championship, and finished fourth in the Youth Olympics. He turned professional in 2006 for Glud & Marstrand Horsens. In 2007, he became Norwegian road champion at 19, beating Thor Hushovd in a sprint of four riders. He won a bronze medal in the road race at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Team Katusha
In four participations on the Tour de France, Russian team Katusha, formerly Tinkoff, having come into being as a continental ranked cycling force in 2006, with already Pavel Brutt, the Russian champion at the time, present in many attempts at breakaways in 2011, has won two stage victories: one during its Grande Boucle debut in 2009 by its now retired leader Sergei Ivanov, and the other at the summit of the climb up the Côte de la Croix Neuve Laurent Jalabert slope in Mende, where Joaquim Rodríguez beat fellow countryman Alberto Contador, who himself had attacked to try and catch is Astana team-mate Alexander Vinokourov.
The Russians and Kazakhs seemed poised to become a dominant force in cycling thanks to their petrodollar mega-budgets, but the Russian Global Cycling Project, whose jerseys are adorned with the silhouette of the Kremlin, has not advanced at the pace desired by the powers that be, who failed to give the sufficient impetus desired by Russia’s cycling fraternity: Denis Menchov, winner of the Giro and twice triumphant on the Vuelta, 3rd in the 2010 Tour de France, nonetheless retired in spring 2013, his star having waned.
On the other hand, Katusha shone at the Grande Boucle when "Purito" Rodríguez, the eternal second in the Giro and Vuelta, brought his children Pablo and Elsa onto the podium of the 100th edition, where he stood next to Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana. Yuri Trofimov and Simon Špilak's stage wins in the 2014 Dauphiné were a reminder of just how many arrows the Russians have in their quiver.
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Alexander Kristoff (born 5 July 1987) is a Norwegian professional road bicycle racer with the UCI ProTeam Team Katusha.
At six, he moved from Oslo to Stavanger. His stepfather got him interested in cycling rather than football. He started riding for Stavanger SK. At 16 he won the Norwegian youth championship, and finished fourth in the Youth Olympics. He turned professional in 2006 for Glud & Marstrand Horsens. In 2007, he became Norwegian road champion at 19, beating Thor Hushovd in a sprint of four riders. He won a bronze medal in the road race at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Team Katusha
In four participations on the Tour de France, Russian team Katusha, formerly Tinkoff, having come into being as a continental ranked cycling force in 2006, with already Pavel Brutt, the Russian champion at the time, present in many attempts at breakaways in 2011, has won two stage victories: one during its Grande Boucle debut in 2009 by its now retired leader Sergei Ivanov, and the other at the summit of the climb up the Côte de la Croix Neuve Laurent Jalabert slope in Mende, where Joaquim Rodríguez beat fellow countryman Alberto Contador, who himself had attacked to try and catch is Astana team-mate Alexander Vinokourov.
The Russians and Kazakhs seemed poised to become a dominant force in cycling thanks to their petrodollar mega-budgets, but the Russian Global Cycling Project, whose jerseys are adorned with the silhouette of the Kremlin, has not advanced at the pace desired by the powers that be, who failed to give the sufficient impetus desired by Russia’s cycling fraternity: Denis Menchov, winner of the Giro and twice triumphant on the Vuelta, 3rd in the 2010 Tour de France, nonetheless retired in spring 2013, his star having waned.
On the other hand, Katusha shone at the Grande Boucle when "Purito" Rodríguez, the eternal second in the Giro and Vuelta, brought his children Pablo and Elsa onto the podium of the 100th edition, where he stood next to Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana. Yuri Trofimov and Simon Špilak's stage wins in the 2014 Dauphiné were a reminder of just how many arrows the Russians have in their quiver.