Kristoff regrets `big risk` after using tubeless tyres in Paris-Roubaix
(Cyclingnews.com)

Alexander Kristoff barely needed any prompting when he stepped off the UAE Team Emirates bus at the end of Paris-Roubaix. Having won Gent-Wevelgem and finished third in the Tour of Flanders, he lined up for `The Hell of the North` as one of the favourites but a costly tyre choice effectively ended his race before it really began. Far from angry - more disappointed - the Norwegian admitted that his mistake in equipment scuppered his chances of competing for the win. Kristoff chose to stick with Vittoria Corsa Graphene 2.0 25mm tubeless tyres in conjunction with Campagnolo Bora WTO tubeless-ready wheels that he had raced on throughout the spring. However, on the brutal cobbles of Paris-Roubaix the Norwegian felt that the combination had let him down and that he had made a mistake in selecting them. The Gent-Wevelgem winner suffered three punctures before finally switching to normal tyres but by then his race was done. He would eventually come home in 56th position, over 14 minutes down on winner Philippe Gilbert. `I took a big risk on the tubeless wheels that I´ve been using the last weeks,` Kristoff told Cyclingnews. `In Belgium it was working fine, and in recon, but in this race here you´re in the pack and you don´t really see where there are holes. I punctured twice before the Arenberg Forest and from there I never came back. I had three flats all together and then I changed to a bike with normal tyres. `I knew that it was a big risk but these wheels are really good. I had success the last few weeks on them and I felt good today, until I punctured. We´d just not try it again next year.` UAE Team Emirates suffered throughout. They lost Fernando Gaviria the evening before the race due to illness and several of their remaining riders were hampered by bad luck and crashes. In the end, Kristoff would be their only rider to reach the velodrome, and it would be a disappointing result after the successes the team had enjoyed in recent weeks. `It´s been a disaste ...