Two crashes in the wet dent Zakarin's GC aspirations
Katusha rider Ilnur Zakarin was in prime position to become the first Russian since Denis Menchov in 2009 to pull on the maglia rosa only for stage 9 to become a day to forget with the 26-year-old crashing twice and conceding xx time to his overall rivals. Zakarin started the day 23 seconds down on maglia rosa Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-Quick Step) and finished the stage 2:09 minutes down, slipping from second to 11th.
"Not much to say. I am deeply disappointed. I did not expect to have such a bad luck today. The feelings were really good and I hoped to do a strong race," Zakarin said in a team release.
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Zakarin crashed heavily on his left-hand side as the wet weather made a challenging course that much harder, forcing a bike change. A crash inside the final kilometre added insult to injury and one of his worse days on a bike as Zakarin added.
"Two crashes and a bike change in one day - that's too much. But the weather made this course quite dangerous," said Zakarin. "I have some injuries, mostly on the left leg, hip and around my knee. I really hope to recover in the next days. I am motivated to keep on fighting in this Giro. The team supports me and I know I can do well."
While Katusha were left to wonder what could have been, Anton Vorobyev recorded his best result yet in a grand tour with the 25-year-old finishing in fifth place having impressed earlier in the season with two stage wins at the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe - Pays de la Loire.
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