Kristoff proves strong: 5th in Sisteron

After two difficult days in Paris-Nice, where Alexander Kristoff didn’t have the best feelings, he showed his Norwegian force by placing fifth in the fifth stage to Sisteron. The stage – covering 163.5 kilometres over four climbs including one of second and one of first category – was won by Jérôme Cousin (Direct Energie) over Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin). They were both part of a four-man escape.

The group behind with Daniel Martin and Sven Erik Bystrøm came within two seconds of the lead duo and then Kristoff, the European champion, opened up in the sprint from behind.

“Today, I was better than the past days, even if I didn’t have great feelings,” Kristoff (in photo, Bettini, with Bystrom at the start) said. “In the race, though, I went better than I thought I would and, after I spoke with my team-mates, I decided to try the sprint. My legs didn’t have such force, though, but I still pulled off a fifth place that gave me some morale.”

Stage 5 results
1 Jerome Cousin (Direct Energie) 3h57’25”
2 Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) 2″
3 André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) 4″
5 Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.

General classification after stage 5
1 Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) 17h45’26”
2 Wout Poels (Team Sky) 15″
3 Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) 26″
22 Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates) 1’36”