Despite the mask of the UAE Team Emirates, Alexander Kristoff had a big smile on his face after winning the first stage of the Tour de France in Nice and taking the yellow jersey for the first time in his career.

"I'm 33 years old, I have four kids, but I still managed to win the biggest race in the world. [The yellow jersey is a bonus. I'm proud of it, and I'm humbled. I'll probably lose the jersey tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to putting it on and enjoying the day."

Kristoff explained that he came to the Tour looking for a stage win, but understands that his UAE team will be focusing on GC contenders Tadej Pogachar and Fabio Aru.

"It was clear that I was going to be alone in the sprint, and I knew that Peter Sagan was the best at riding alone, so I followed his wheel," Kristoff said of the hectic finale along the seafront boulevard of the Promenade des Anglais.

"Then I saw Cees Bol with a couple of teammates and we started early. I knew I had good legs and when I got out of his circle I was confident I was going to win. I can't really describe the feeling."

Kristoff said his goal for the future is to try for more stage wins, but he was negative about the possibility of challenging for the points jersey. Peter [Sagan] is always quite far in front," he said. Peter (Sagan) is always quite far ahead of me, because he is always quite far ahead. I'm going to try to get some points, not for the green jersey, but for practice, for the sprint later on."

Kristoff described how he lined up at the recent Criterium du Dauphiné, where there was not a single stage for sprinters, with the goal of creating the right conditions for the Tour. It was a training camp of pain, almost suffering, every day," he joked. I knew that if I didn't train hard and race hard, I would suffer in the Tour."

Competing in the Tour, he added, would lead to his main goal for the season, the Northern Classics. My main goals are Flanders and Roubaix. That's in the back of my mind, and that's why I wanted to go to the Tour. Maybe I'm a little bit better than I thought I'd be, and I hope I'll be in better shape in October."

The Norwegian said he thought he made the right decision to stop the race when the rain made the surface slippery.

"There were a lot of riders crashing and I think Jumbo Visma started to calm the pack down. I think it was the right decision because all the corners were slippery. I am used to these conditions in Norway. Yeah, it was slippery, but in terms of temperature it was like being back home."