Karsten Kroon was once a perennial classics contender who has come very close to winning the race that every Dutchman dreams about: the Amstel Gold Race. However, the times where he can compete with the best have passed, and the Dutchman is now ready to sacrifice himself for his teammates in 2014.

There is no shortage of outstanding classics achievements on Karsten Kroon's palmares. The likeable Dutchman has finished 2nd and 4th in the Amstel Gold Race, 3rd in the Fleche Wallonne, 4th in the Tour of Flanders, 5th in Il Lombardia and has won the Rund um den Henninger Turm twice.

Those results speak volumes of Kroon's abilities. However, the best results for the now 37-year-old Dutchman were all achieved several years ago and the days when he can realistically dream about winning a major classic, are probably gone.

Nonetheless, Kroon recently renewed his contract with Team Tinkoff-Saxo for another year and he is now preparing for what will be his seventh year in Bjarne Riis' team. However, his role has changed and he is now ready to play the role as loyal domestique in the biggest races.

“My goal the coming season is to maintain a high level throughout the whole year so I'll be able to support the guys who can win races the best I can," he said. "I've been enjoying my off-season at home with the kids and I've been re-charging the batteries with a few days on Ibiza with my wife and I'm ready to do the kilometres needed before I kick off the new season”.

Kroon got his 2013 season off to a disastrous start when he crashed out of the Tour of Qatar. However, he managed to recover in time for the Ardennes classics where his experience was invaluable during Roman Kreuiziger's winning ride in the Amstel Gold Race.

Unsurprisingly, Kroon describes his home race as the highlight of his season.

“The greatest moment for me this season was being in the line-up with Roman in Amstel Gold Race which he won in such a convincing way," he said. "I never succeeded in doing that myself and I gave everything I had that day to help him and he sure pulled it off. It was a great achievement after a personal and very physical downfall due to the crash in Qatar where I cut my quad and was out for 7 weeks.”

In 2013 Kroon's best result was 7th in his national championships.