Ilnur Zakarin takes podium place in Murcia

The 36th Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia took place on Saturday with Team KATUSHA’s Ilnur Zakarin sprinting for the line to earn a third podium spot on the 199,3 km one-day race. 

- Honestly, I felt pretty well before the start, but I did not aim to be on the podium today. I wanted to do good work in this race since it is my first race in the season and I wanted to get some racing rhythm. But everything was really good during the race. The team helped me a lot. It was a strong cross wind and the guys protected me well. The main things in this race happened on the descents, because on the climbs there was a headwind and it was impossible to get any big advantage. Our sports director Xavier Florencio suggested that I attack in the final, so I found a possibility to go away with 3 km to go. But the wind was still strong, so the others brought me back. In the final I was able to sprint and to take a podium place. I am pretty happy with it, it was a nice race. I feel like I am in a good shape now and I want to save it, - said Ilnur Zakarin. 

The race was only one day for 2016 but race organizers will try to return it to a three-day format next year.  Earning the victory on the day was former world champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC), with four-time winner Alejandro Valverde of Movistar taking second just ahead of Zakarin on a time of 5:02.19.

- We’re very proud of this result and race of Ilnur, especially when you see the quality of the results – he was there with names like Gilbert, Valverde, Luis León, etc. Our whole team did a great job. On the first category climb, the Collada Bermejo, we had Ilnur but also a good Egor Silin and Alexey Tsatevich. Our plan was originally to focus on Tsatevich. Then Movistar pulled again harder to catch a break of six riders. In the end, on the Cresta del Gallo at 13 km from the finish, we still had Ilnur in the front. He reacted to an attack of Tejay Van Garderen. And then he went alone at some 3 km from the end. He never got more than five seconds. They caught him back at 1,5 km from the finish in Murcia. Amazing that he was still able to sprint to a third place. We can be proud of our performance, - said team director Xavier Florencio.