With the podium so close, Ilnur Zakarin used his attacking skills on Saturday to animate stage 20 of the 100th Giro d’Italia.
With the final climb topping out at 15k to go, Zakarin made his move on the way up to distance some of his closest general classification rivals, but on the downhill he was brought back with a sprint from the favorites taking place in Asiago. Zakarin took second behind stage winner Thibaut Pinot (FDJ).
“I am feeling very well and looking forward to tomorrow. I tried to do everything possible today to make a good result,” said Ilnur Zakarin.
“People might say I didn’t work a lot in the finale, but they can say they want. I worked before with Pozzovivo, I recovered a bit when we were caught, and then I still did some work after that. I’m satisfied with how I rode and I’ll just give it everything in the time trial tomorrow.”
“My favourite is Dumoulin, and I hope he wins,” Zakarin said. “I hope to get on the podium too.”
