UAE Team Emirates sprinter Kristoff talking to other teams for 2020 season
With his contract set to end after the 2019 season, UAE Team Emirates' Alexander Kristoff is weighing up his options for 2020, and has been talking to other teams, despite having been offered a contract extension by his current team.
"There's interest from a number of other teams," Kristoff told Norwegian website procycling.no, "so I'm sure that it'll work out. I haven't come to an agreement with anyone, but I have had an offer from UAE, which I don't think is good enough yet.
"That's why we [he and agent Joona Laukka] are talking to other teams – to see whether there are any better offers, which we can then go back to UAE with. I have a figure in mind, so we're trying to see if we can get it," he said.
The Norwegian sprinter told procycling.no that UAE's current offer is better than his current salary, but that he believes his performances this spring – which include a win at Gent Wevelgem, a stage at the Tour of Oman and third place at the Tour of Flanders – have raised his value.
"The offer is better now than the last time I signed a contract, but back then I was on a slightly downward spiral – at least in terms of the results I was achieving. I think that I've shown this spring that I'm back where I belong. But we'll see what happens, as I'm not getting any younger," said the 31-year-old Kristoff.
The arrival at UAE of 24-year-old Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria this season had been seen by many as a potential problem for Kristoff's ambitions, but the older rider has maintained a diplomatic stance at all times. Now, having raced with Gaviria this spring, the Norwegian has been left impressed by the younger rider's contribution to the team.
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