Alexander Kristoff has said that "there's no bad feeling" from him towards his Uno-X Mobility team after he was passed over for selection for what would have been his final Tour de France this summer.
The 37-year-old is a veteran of 11 Tours de France, having picked up four stage wins at the race during his career. Kristoff announced earlier this season that 2025 will be his final road racing campaign, and he had hoped to ride the Tour one last time before retirement.
However, Uno-X Mobility have decided to leave him off their eight-man roster for this year's race, instead selecting Søren Wærenskjold and Stian Fredheim as their go-to fast men.
Speaking to TV2.no on Monday, Kristoff said he was "a little disappointed" about the decision but bore no ill will towards team management.
"There's no denying that I'm a little disappointed. At the same time, Stian Fredheim has performed well this year and made progress, so it's probably also a decision for the future," Kristoff said.
"We had a good chat. There's no bad feeling between us. I understand how they think, and Tobias Halland Johannessen is in great shape and needs some support... But it's disappointing not to get my last Tour."
Uno-X Mobility manager Thor Hushovd said that the decision came at the end of a "difficult process", with the final selection made on Saturday evening.
"I think it's difficult with Alexander Kristoff, with everything he's done for many, many years. But now we're looking to the future, and there are many young people coming up. So that's how it turned out this year," Hushovd explained.
Kristoff has picked up one win so far in 2025, at the Vuelta a Andalucía, as well as several podium spots across the Tour of Turkey and Tour of Norway.
In his place, the team has gone with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad champion Wærenskjold and Fredheim, who won La Route Adélie de Vitré in April and placed fourth on a stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné last week.
"We believe that Wærenskjold has a higher top speed, and we think that Fredheim is a bit more consistent on the slopes," Hushovd said.
"So, if Søren were to fall off on the semi-hard sprint stages, we believe that Fredheim has a slightly better chance of being included. He's proved that in the Dauphiné. He has a good finish, and Wærenskjold trusts him 100%.
"[Kristoff] was disappointed, but he realised it. He took it like a man. He understood the reasons."
Elsewhere in the team, Frederik Dversnes was disappointed to miss the selection, too. The 28-year-old, who won a breakaway stage at Tirreno-Adriatico this season, told TV2.no that he believed his upcoming wedding had some influence on his non-selection.
Dversnes is set to get married this Friday and said, "I feel that there have been an incredible number of hints that I'm getting married. I don't think everyone in management was equally happy about it."
The Norwegian said he won't let the feelings of disappointment "overshadow a day he's really looking forward to", while Hushovd denied that Dversnes' upcoming wedding had anything to do with the team's decision.
"It hasn't been mentioned anywhere. It's nice that he's getting married! But I would never have got married that weekend, I have to say," Hushovd said.
"It may well be that he's had a few nudges from the sports directors, but I didn't know until you said it now that he was getting married this weekend. It hasn't in any way, shape or form contributed to the decision. This is an overall assessment."
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