Ilnur Zakarin abandons Volta a Comunitat Valenciana with concussion

The Russian climber started off his season in search of good form but ends up abandoning after a crash on stage 3 left him with "a concussion and several cuts".

It was not a great start of the season for the rider from Gazprom - Rusvelo. Ilnur Zakarin, who is riding his final season as a professional rider, hit the deck hard during the third stage of the Spanish stage-race and couldn't complete the stage. A dark day in the peloton where six riders abandoned, mostly due to crashes, and nine didn't step foot on the startline, with the majority being the Team BikeExchange squad which pulled out of the race after a set of positive Covid tests.

Gazprom brought a strong lineup for what was their first race of the season, which included the likes of Tour of Turkey champion Jose Manuel Díaz, Nicola Conci and Christian Scaroni. Their best placed rider is the Spanish climber who sits 24th in the general classification. As the Russian team sets off for the final two flat stages, they will be looking to launch Marco Canola into some good results in the sprints, and possibly eye the breakaways.