The evolution of ‘the Stavanger Stallion’ – from a single tweet to his retirement present.
At the Rouleur Live cycling show a couple of weeks back, a bow was tied on the 2025 season. Luminaries from the cycling world, exhibitors and industry figures descended on a brewery in London to look at pretty bikes, listen to speakers and mingle. One of those speakers, enjoying the early first days of his retirement, was the Norwegian sprinter and classics star Alexander Kristoff.
In a touching moment up on the stage, he was presented with a farewell present from team Uno-X Mobility’s bike sponsor, Ridley: a custom-painted bike to take him into retirement, covered with little details referencing his illustrious career. A Norwegian flag on the back of the seat tube, names of races he won, a colour-scheme matching his personal Lamborghini. And on the top tube, in pride of place, was his name next to a little picture of a rearing stallion.
On the Ridley website, a little photoset was published to showcase this lovely bike and all the thoughtful details that had been included. One subheading, next to the picture of his name and the horse motif, read “The Stavanger Stallion: Kristoff’s nickname is ‘The Stavanger Stallion’. That’s why we added a stallion alongside his name.”
Checks out. But where did that nickname come from? What is its origin story? Does he like it?
Luckily, we are uniquely placed to answer all of those questions. Let’s get stuck in.
The origin of the species
Cast your mind back to mid-2020. It was, I think it’s fair to say, a messier time for most of us. The pandemic forced the world indoors, where we spent too much time staring at our little screens and going ever so slightly stir-crazy. Bike racing was still happening, albeit a bit less so; the Tour de France began at the end of August, kicking off with a rain-affected stage in Nice. The victor that day – and wearer of the COVID Tour’s first yellow jersey – was Alexander Kristoff.
On the other side of the world I watched on with excitement, because I liked Kristoff quite a lot, specifically because of a 2017 Norwegian TV clip I’d come across where he gave a MTV Cribs-style tour of his lovely new house in Stavanger. When the camera crew and presenter reached the bedroom, Kristoff turned around and dropped into English to say “this is where the magic happens”.
I lobbed that fact into the Twitter ether, wrote that it was a “memorable TV moment for the Stavanger Stallion” – something about the alliteration struck a chord – and prepared to move on with my life. But a seed was planted.
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