May 03, 2015 (Lausanne, Switzerland) – Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha claimed the overall victory at of the Tour de Romandie finishing 3rd on the final 17.3km Stage 6 ITT in Lausanne won by Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx-Quick-Step with Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha in 3rd. Canada’s Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team) was 42nd on the final stage to finish 24th overall.

Team Katusha Report

It was nothing short of a dominating performance by Team Katusha this week in the 69th Tour de Romandie. Russian Ilnur Zakarin, 25, took the overall win and the yellow jersey and was joined on the podium by teammate Simon Špilak in second place. It was Sunday’s final 17,3 km individual time trial that provided the most drama in Lausanne, with Zakarin needing a bike change in the final part of the time trial as he was on target to challenge Tony Martin for the stage victory. A quick swap of the bike and Zakarin was back on track, taking third for the stage behind Martin and Špilak, but more importantly holding 17-seconds to Simon to win the general classification. Christopher Froome took the third spot in the classification.

– Normally I like the TT races and I have had some good results. But during the last two years, step-by-step I have tried to improve my abilities as a climber. It was a hard way to do it but I lost maybe 10 kg to get more speed in the mountains. Of course when you improve in one area you lose in another, but later there is a chance to find a good balance. Now I am there, but I see a lot of things to improve. I want to continue my development as a rider, – said Ilnur Zakarin.

Zakarin was the Russian ITT champion in 2013 and a member of the Russian National Team. In 2014 he had strong results before moving up to the WorldTour Team Katusha this season, taking the GC in the Grand Prix of Adygeya, Tour d’Azerbaidjan and Grand Prix of Sochi all while he raced for the Rusvelo pro-continental team. His performance in both the mountains and the time trial show great potential in the young Russian.

Asked about the necessary bike change Ilnur Zakarin explained what happened:

– The bike change was my mistake. At the top of the climb I had to slow my pace a little bit and not push so hard on the pedals to change the gear. But I pushed it too hard and the chain got stuck. But the mechanics did a perfect job and changed my bike very fast.

– There was no panic when we had to change bikes. Everything was organized. We had the spare bike and we changed it very quickly probably in no more than 15-seconds. We already knew that Ilnur was good at the time trial but you put somebody in a yellow jersey and it changes him. For some it makes them worse but for others it makes them better. He switched on for the better. I think for this year we have to be happy with his good result as it met his goal and now he goes to the Giro d’Italia for experience. I think it’s very important for him to go to this race and see how he does in a three week race. Here in Romandie we have almost all the jerseys and the team classification, too. We’re very lucky with the group of riders at this race as they came in prepared and got the results.  Many of them will go to the Giro and we will hope for more results from there, – said team director Dmitry Konyshev.

– Honestly I did not expect I could win this race. Yes, I wanted to be in form here and wanted to fight for the top 5. During the race I did my best, especially yesterday and today in the time trial. I worked to get the best possible result but of course this is a big surprise for me to win here. I have not analyzed the results of today’s TT and I need to do that to understand what happened. All I know, I did full gas, 100%, and now I am really happy. I want to thank my team – all the guys, the management, sports directors and staff for their support and great help. My victory is a victory of the whole team! – continued Ilnur Zakarin.

For Simon Špilak it was another second place in the Tour of Romandie, his third in as many years after his overall victory in 2010, but the Slovenian rider is full of joy at another victory for his Katusha team.

– This is crazy. I am so happy. You can say ‘2-nd again in Romandie’ but Ilnur deserves this. We are a team and the team result counts. When you see that Ilnur had to lose time by changing his bike and he still was able to win – he gets big respect. I am also very happy about my TT. We did recon this morning in the car and during the TT director Florencio coached me so well. Finishing better than Chris Froome is not bad, I think. Now again I am second, but I am very happy. What a team performance! – said Simon Špilak.

All week the team put up outstanding performances and earned the top honor in the team classification to validate their efforts. In addition, teammate Maxim Belkov won both the points and mountain jersey to add to the collection of prizes won by Team Katusha. The win marks the 19th victory for Team Katusha in the 2015 cycling season.

As result of the Tour de Romandie, Team Katusha moved up to 2nd place in the UCI WorldTour team’s classification with 828 points.

Results

1. Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx-Quick-Step 23:18
2. Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha 00:11
3. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha 00:13
4. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Soudal 00:19
5. Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 00:22
6. Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 00:24
7. Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Movistar Team 00:25
8. Stef Clement (Ned) IAM Cycling 00:26
9. Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 00:28
10. Steve Morabito (Sui) FDJ.fr 00:31
11. Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx-Quick-Step 00:32
12. Simon Yates (Gbr) Orica GreenEdge 00:33
13. Christopher Froome (Gbr) Team Sky 00:34
14. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 00:39
15. Stefan Küng (Sui) BMC Racing Team 00:43
16. Andrey Amador (Crc) Movistar Team 00:51
17. Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
18. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 00:55
19. Anton Vorobyev (Rus) Team Katusha 00:56
20. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr
21. Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 01:00
22. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 01:01
23. Mathias Frank (Sui) IAM Cycling
24. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 01:03
25. Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin 01:06
26. Rein Taaramae (Est) Astana Pro Team 01:09
27. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 01:11
28. Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
29. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 01:16
30. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida 01:18
31. Romain Sicard (Fra) Team Europcar 01:19
32. Thomas Danielson (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 01:22
33. Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo
34. Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 01:24
35. Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling 01:27
36. Yury Trofimov (Rus) Team Katusha
37. Campbell Flakemore (Aus) BMC Racing Team 01:28
38. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky 01:30
39. Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ.fr 01:31
40. Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr
41. Reto Hollenstein (Sui) IAM Cycling 01:32
42. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team
43. Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 01:35
44. Maxim Belkov (Rus) Team Katusha 01:39
45. Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 01:42
46. Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal
47. Chad Haga (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin 01:44
48. Danilo Wyss (Sui) BMC Racing Team
49. Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx-Quick-Step 01:46
50. Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha 01:47
51. Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica GreenEdge 01:48
52. Maxime Bouet (Fra) Etixx-Quick-Step 01:49
53. Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Trek Factory Racing
54. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff-Saxo
55. Marcel Wyss (Sui) IAM Cycling 01:50
56. David De La Cruz (Esp) Etixx-Quick-Step 01:51
57. Imanol Erviti (Esp) Movistar Team
58. Brian Bulgac (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 01:57
59. Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Trek Factory Racing 01:58
60. Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
61. Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr 02:02
62. Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) BMC Racing Team 02:05
63. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida
64. Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 02:09
65. Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 02:10
66. Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha 02:11
67. Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team 02:16
68. Romain Guillemois (Fra) Team Europcar 02:17
69. Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 02:19
70. Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Orica GreenEdge 02:20
71. Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 02:24
72. Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 02:26
73. Rick Flens (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
74. Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 02:27
75. Fabio Silvestre (Por) Trek Factory Racing 02:28
76. Ian Stannard (Gbr) Team Sky 02:29
77. Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 02:31
78. Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 02:32
79. Ruben Plaza Molina (Esp) Lampre-Merida 02:36
80. Larry Warbasse (USA) IAM Cycling 02:37
81. Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida
82. Stig Broeckx (Bel) Lotto Soudal 02:41
83. Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 02:42
84. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Team Sky 02:44
85. Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 02:46
86. Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
87. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 02:47
88. Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team 02:50
89. Bryan Naulleau (Fra) Team Europcar
90. Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Team Katusha
91. Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 02:52
92. Janier Acevedo (Col) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 02:53
93. Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Team Europcar 02:54
94. Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo
95. Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team 02:56
96. Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 02:57
97. Greg Henderson (Nzl) Lotto Soudal 03:00
98. Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
99. Bruno Pires (Por) Tinkoff-Saxo
100. Carter Jones (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin 03:01
101. Matthew Busche (USA) Trek Factory Racing 03:06
102. Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ.fr 03:15
103. Dennis Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 03:18
104. Nathan Haas (Aus) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 03:19
105. Luke Rowe (Gbr) Team Sky
106. Thierry Hupond (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin 03:22
107. Daniel Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 03:24
108. Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar Team 03:33
109. Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 03:34
110. Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Trek Factory Racing 03:43
111. Cheng Ji (Chn) Team Giant-Alpecin 03:54
112. Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
113. Jose Rodolfo Serpa (Col) Lampre-Merida 03:57
114. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 04:00
115. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team Giant-Alpecin 04:08
116. Andre Cardoso (Por) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 04:11
117. Danny Pate (USA) Team Sky 04:16
118. Sam Bewley (Nzl) Orica GreenEdge 04:28
119. Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team 04:32
120. Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky 04:36
121. Jonathan Fumeaux (Sui) IAM Cycling 04:42
122. Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida
123. Jérôme Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar 04:47
124. Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Lampre-Merida 05:24

Final GC
1. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha 18:36:30
2. Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha 0:00:17
3. Christopher Froome (Gbr) Team Sky 0:00:35
4. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:00:49
5. Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx-Quick-Step 0:01:20
6. Simon Yates (Gbr) Orica GreenEdge 0:01:21
7. Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:01:24
8. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:01:42
9. Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:43
10. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:01:54
11. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:02:02
12. Mathias Frank (Sui) IAM Cycling 0:02:13
13. Yury Trofimov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:02:20
14. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:39
15. Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:02:43
16. Steve Morabito (Sui) FDJ.fr 0:03:00
17. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:03:03
18. Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Col) BMC Racing Team 0:03:12
19. Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:25
20. Thomas Danielson (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:03:34
21. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:04:51
22. Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Orica GreenEdge 0:05:05
23. Romain Sicard (Fra) Team Europcar 0:05:22
24. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:05:38
25. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida 0:05:48
26. Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling 0:06:15
27. Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:06:20
28. Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team 0:06:27
29. Marcel Wyss (Sui) IAM Cycling 0:08:41
30. Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx-Quick-Step 0:09:09
31. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:09:21
32. Stef Clement (Ned) IAM Cycling 0:09:26
33. Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:09:27
34. Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:09:32
35. Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp) Movistar Team 0:10:07
36. Andrey Amador (Crc) Movistar Team 0:10:20
37. Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Trek Factory Racing 0:10:30
38. Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:10:40
39. Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:11:04
40. Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:11:28
41. Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha 0:12:09
42. David De La Cruz (Esp) Etixx-Quick-Step 0:12:55
43. Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:13:23
44. Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:13:49
45. Maxime Bouet (Fra) Etixx-Quick-Step 0:13:54
46. Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:15:12
47. Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:15:27
48. Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar Team 0:16:40
49. Andre Cardoso (Por) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:17:02
50. Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:18:28
51. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida 0:19:33
52. Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Team Europcar 0:20:08
53. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky 0:21:23
54. Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:21:55
55. Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 0:22:44
56. Jose Rodolfo Serpa (Col) Lampre-Merida 0:23:06
57. Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:23:27
58. Rein Taaramae (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:23:37
59. Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica GreenEdge 0:23:39
60. Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:24:23
61. Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Lampre-Merida 0:24:51
62. Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx-Quick-Step 0:25:21
63. Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:26:29
64. Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:29:00
65. Danilo Wyss (Sui) BMC Racing Team 0:30:06
66. Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:31:19
67. Chad Haga (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:33:04
68. Carter Jones (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:33:59
69. Nathan Haas (Aus) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:34:11
70. Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:34:43
71. Bruno Pires (Por) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:35:20
72. Stefan Küng (Sui) BMC Racing Team 0:35:57
73. Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:37:03
74. Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Trek Factory Racing 0:38:03
75. Janier Acevedo (Col) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:38:33
76. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:38:52
77. Maxim Belkov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:40:13
78. Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida
79. Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Team Katusha 0:40:34
80. Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team 0:43:09
81. Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:44:53
82. Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:45:01
83. Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:45:12
84. Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:45:51
85. Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 0:46:19
86. Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:46:25
87. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Team Sky 0:46:37
88. Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:46:47
89. Bryan Naulleau (Fra) Team Europcar 0:47:09
90. Romain Guillemois (Fra) Team Europcar 0:47:17
91. Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:47:18
92. Jérôme Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar 0:48:40
93. Matthew Busche (USA) Trek Factory Racing 0:50:27
94. Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:52:11
95. Larry Warbasse (USA) IAM Cycling 0:53:04
96. Imanol Erviti (Esp) Movistar Team 0:54:55
97. Sam Bewley (Nzl) Orica GreenEdge 0:55:59
98. Campbell Flakemore (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:56:31
99. Ruben Plaza Molina (Esp) Lampre-Merida 0:56:53
100. Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:56:59
101. Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 0:57:00
102. Reto Hollenstein (Sui) IAM Cycling 0:57:11
103. Brian Bulgac (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:58:03
104. Daniel Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 1:00:16
105. Greg Henderson (Nzl) Lotto Soudal 1:00:24
106. Ian Stannard (Gbr) Team Sky 1:00:37
107. Luke Rowe (Gbr) Team Sky 1:03:49
108. Fabio Silvestre (Por) Trek Factory Racing 1:04:06
109. Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ.fr 1:07:20
110. Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Trek Factory Racing 1:08:09
111. Thierry Hupond (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin 1:09:00
112. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 1:10:24
113. Anton Vorobyev (Rus) Team Katusha 1:11:03
114. Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr 1:12:02
115. Stig Broeckx (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:12:40
116. Rick Flens (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 1:13:14
117. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 1:14:22
118. Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 1:14:45
119. Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky 1:23:00
120. Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 1:23:47
121. Dennis Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:24:49
122. Cheng Ji (Chn) Team Giant-Alpecin 1:25:34
123. Danny Pate (USA) Team Sky 1:25:52
124. Jonathan Fumeaux (Sui) IAM Cycling 1:26:23