Alexander Kristoff may have crashed out of his final race, unable to finish the penultimate stage at Tour de Langkawi, but that didn't stop his colleagues in the peloton sending him off in unique style.
The Uno-X Mobility rider was in Langkawi trying to claim a couple more victories to bring his career tally to the 100-marker, having started his final race with 98 career victories. And though he took 2nd place on stage 3, that was as close as he got.
He went into stage 7 needing to win that, and also claim victory the following day on the final stage to reach 100 wins. However, his career came to an end with a nasty crash on stage 7, which forced him out of the race.
The Norwegian veteran was bowing out aged 38 and having been a pro for 16 years, with four seasons before that riding for UCI Continental teams. However, his colleagues in the peloton didn't let his career come to an end in anonymous fashion with a midstage crash.
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Instead, Kristoff got patched up - his hands and arms cut to pieces - and turned out for the stage start, where his team mates gave him the traditional guard of honour, but with the retiring ride a passenger in a rickshaw rather than on his own bike.
"I didn't have many bad crashes in my career, and I'm not badly injured, but I think my bones are quite strongly built, because I never broke anything in my whole career," he said of the crash in his final race.
"So I'm actually happy about that, but now I regret a little bit I didn't try more to go to the finish line, but it was very difficult with my hands."
Contraint à l'abandon sur chute hier sur le Tour de Langkawi, Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X) a tout de même été honoré par le peloton à l'occasion de la dernière étape ce dimanche. Le Norvégien (38 ans) se retire avec 98 succès au compteur, dont 2 lors de sa dernière saison.
?Uno-X pic.twitter.com/NuS9OdiWEx— Le Gruppetto (@LeGruppetto) October 5, 2025
