If you see Ilnur Zakarin speaking into his jersey at the Tour de France, it could be a sign that he's about to do something special.
The Russian is, by all accounts, a calm leader who keeps race radio communications to a minimum, but when he's feeling good, he won't miss an opportunity to make a bet with Dimitri Konyshev, Katusha-Alpecin's directeur sportif back in the team car.
"Every race, when he starts to feel good, he says, 'OK we do a bet… If I finish top five you have to do something - If not, I do it'. Sometimes I have to clean his shoes, sometimes he has to clean mine - always stupid things," Konyshev says.
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"It's interesting that he starts this and is always thinking about this. He asks me, 'so today, what do we do?' This is the sign. When he's not feeling really good, he keeps quiet, but when he starts to ask this, it's always dangerous for me!"
Zakarin and Konyshev are something of a double act, the four-time 1990's Tour de France stage winner being Zakarin's closest confidant at Katusha.
"He knows how to manage me," Konyshev says with a smile. "I know how to manage him but he knows how to manage me."
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via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/a-new-russian-icon-ilnur-zakarins-rise-to-the-top
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