Russian Zakarin primed for greatness

SESTOLA, Italy (VN) — Little is known about 26-year-old Russian Ilnur Zakarin except for his results. The team Katusha cyclist took on Movistar’s Nairo Quintana in the Tour de Romandie this May and won the Swiss race last year. In the Giro d’Italia, he scored in Imola in 2015, and when stage 10 finished in Sestola Tuesday, sat ninth overall just one minute away from the favorites.

Zakarin would explain more, but he shies away from speaking the limited English he knows. Instead, he speaks with his legs. He rode alongside 2013 Giro d’Italia winner Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde for the last week and rode toward the pink jersey in the time trial Sunday, until he crashed twice in the final kilometers.

“His weakness? It’s not a weakness, but it’s that desire to win,” Katusha sports director Dmitry Konyshev said. “He raced the time trial like a prologue — in every curve he was risking it. I was not able to stop him in time, to tell him to go slow and regular. He races with his heart. When …

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