Ilnur Zakarin: biography and photos

Ilnur Zakarin is a Russian rider who has achieved a lot in this sport. On an equal footing he competes with the world's leading athletes, has many awards. Next, consider his biography, failures, achievements, as well as interesting facts from life.

general information

Ilnur Zakarin was born in Naberezhnye Chelny (September 15, 1989). The highway cyclist until 2012 was in favor of the junior club "Premier". Further his professional activities are connected with the team "Katyusha". The 2013 season was held by the sportsman in the professional continental club RusVelo. In the summer of the same year he became the champion of the Russian Federation, and also won the Grand Prix of Adygea. The main achievements of Ilnur:

• Leadership in the Russian Individual Championships (2013).
• The winner of the first stage at the "Giro Italia" (2015).
• He won the 17th stage of the Tour de France (2016).

The athlete's height is 1 meter 87 centimeters, and weight - 68 kilograms.

Career: positive and negative points

Ilnur Zakarin, whose cycling is a professional activity, notes several important moments in his career. To the desired achievements, the athlete attributes victories to the "Giro" and "Tour de France". As for failures, this is an annoying fall and non-participation in the Olympics (Rio de Janeiro).

Since the cyclist could not perform at the Olympic Games, over the past season he had realized his potential by seventy percent. Such a figure is taken from his own words. After the fall Ilnur Zakarin recovered rather quickly. As the athlete says, the main impetus for this was the desire to prepare well for the Olympics in Rio. The cyclist raises thanks to the coaching staff and friends who were at the difficult moment beside him.

Facts about the trip to the Olympic Games

Ilnur Zakarin is very worried about the non-participation in the Olympics. For the sake of this dream, he sacrificed a lot:

• Strongly trained;
• Already ten days after the fall at the Giro tournament, the athlete again got on a bicycle;
• Almost a fortnight the cyclist trained, overcoming the pain and post-traumatic state.

As the athlete himself notes, the news that Ilnur Zakarin is not going to the Olympics, hit him like a boot on the head. The guy was constantly in touch with the leadership and until the last minute hoped that he would be allowed to play. Two days before the start of the Olympics, Ilnur was informed that he can speak. However, he did not agree. This is justified by the fact that the flight to Brazil takes a lot of time, but there is practically no quality preparation for it.

Despite the fact that many experts were confident that Zakarin would be able to prove himself by one hundred percent, participation did not take place.

Future plans

The cyclist already has plans and a calendar for 2017. He knows for sure that he will participate in two prestigious tours: "Giro Italia" and "Vuelto Spain". The athlete notes that the landing on the bike, he chose with higher aerodynamic performance. Ilnur Zakarin hopes that in both races he will take the leading positions.

The cyclist feels a great responsibility and motivation, and hopes to perform at the World Championships in Norway. Another dream of the athlete - a successful performance at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Development of cycling in Russia

On the development of domestic cycling Ilnur Zakarin, whose photo is presented below, is very skeptical. Despite the fact that cycling bicycles are open everywhere, progress is difficult to name. Unfortunately, it is better for talented young people to train in Europe. This is due to poor financing, inappropriate climate and the lack of a sufficient number of suitable routes.

Last season the sportsman finished earlier and went on a long vacation. This decision was made in favor of laser surgery on the eyes. The fact is that on the "Tour de France" the cyclist lost coordination on the track after he dropped the lens. Now everything is fine, the athlete is ready to fight for the highest awards in the championships of any level.

Now for the team "Katyusha" are five riders with Russian citizenship. Together with the participants from the club "RusVelo" is an excellent potential for the Russian team. The athlete regrets the closure of the Tinkoff project, in which there was a very strong team of riders. He hopes for the soon return of this club in a new composition.

What does the president of the cycling federation say about Zakarin?

Three-time Olympic champion and president of the federation of cycling in Russia, Vyacheslav Yekimov, noted the following:

1. It is important that Ilnur was not just a leader on the Giro, but fought for the main place on the honorary podium. If there was an unfortunate fall, the rider would certainly enter the top three of the contenders for the first place. It is noteworthy that, without really recovering from injury, the athlete took part in the challenging "Tour de France" tracks.
2. Zakarin is a modest guy, but he is confident in sports and competitions and constantly improves himself. Until recently, he did not understand English at all, and now he freely gives interviews to foreign journalists.
3. The Olympiad in Rio had many hopes. If it were not for political intrigues, Ilnur's worthy performance would be guaranteed.

This is how Vyacheslav Yekimov spoke about the cyclist in one of his interviews.

All sports successes

Below are the achievements of the rider:

• 2007 - European Championship among juniors in individual standings for the time.
• 2012 - the first place in the Grand Prix of Adygea, point classification and on the 2nd and 4th stages of the Alsace tour. Ninth place at the "Jirobo", the first position in the fifth stage of the ITT.
• 2013 - the leader in the championship of Russia and the third place in the Grand Prix of Adygea.
• 2014 - the first positions in Sochi, Azerbaijan, Adygea.
• 2015 - leadership on the Romance tour.
• 2016 - the third place in the Vuelta Murcia, in Norway, the fourth position in Poland, Paris, worthy participation in the tours of the Basque country, San Luis, Catalonia, Alarvi.

Finally

Ilnur Zakarin, whose biography is closely connected with cycling, is full of strength and is ready to win. Despite all political difficulties, he is sure that the Russian team will take worthy places at the World, European and Olympic championships. It remains only to wish good luck to a talented sportsman.