Kristoff's retirement moves up after crashing out of Langkawi, win tally remains 98
Alexander Kristoff has raced his last race as a professional cyclist. The 38-year-old Norwegian was due to bow out at the close of the ongoing Tour de Langkawi, but a crash during the penultimate stage forced him to call time a day early.
"The hand is quite badly bloody and full of holes, and the arm also is bad, so it was more or less impossible to hold the handlebars," Kristoff said in a reel posted by his team. "So it's over. It was not the way I want to end the race or the career, but cycling is a brutal sport and it changes fast, so ... that's life. I will not dwell too much about it, life goes on."
Many were optimistic that Kristoff might find the two wins needed to make it to 100 at the sprinter-friendly Tour de Langkawi, but despite finishing top five on three of the week's seven flat finales, the 'Stavanger Stallion' was unable to rack up another victory, leaving his tally at a still-remarkable 98. The list includes four Tour stages, Milan-Sanremo 2014, Tour of Flanders 2015, and medals at the Olympics and World Champs in 2012 and 2017 respectively.
