Although he is more a puncheur than a grimpeur, Yevgeniy GIDICH is no slouch when it comes to the mountains. He attacks at the base of the final climb. Mikhail KOCHETKOV is the first responder, but he does not possess the capabilities necessary to keep pace with his compatriot, who scampers off into the distance.
The cooperation of Bakhtiyar KOZHATAYEV and Dinmukhammed ULYSBAYEV doesn't make much of a dent into GIDICH's lead. Dissatisfied, Vadim PRONSKIY takes matters into his own hands. Although I think his intention was to bridge across solo, he drags several riders with him: the aforementioned duo, in addition to Alexey LUTSENKO and Roman SENYENOV.
KOZHATAYEV and ULYSBAYEV set a relatively high tempo, knowing that sudden changes in pace will cause them more suffering than their competitors. Unfortunately, LUTSENKO has other ideas. He is closely marked GIDICH but PRONSKIY can not follow, and he drags the others with him. Except for SENYENOV that is, he has completely cracked.
GIDICH doesn't wait too long before firing out from LUTSENKO's wheel. We've seen these two legendary puncheurs clash time and time again in the ProTour''s hills; now they're giving us a show in the Kazakh mountains. Just how much the pair are suffering is shown first by the fact that LUTSENKO doesn't even get out of his seat to respond to the move, but also by the fact that GIDICH sits down himself as soon as he establishes the most marginal of gaps.
Amongst the chasers it is again PRONSKIY who grows restless. They had managed to keep the leaders within touching distance, as he so readily shows by bridging up to GIDICH in a single acceleration. That is too much for ULYSBAYEV, who can't muster a response to the initial move, and KOZHATAYEV, who drops with 3 kilometres remaining.
Look at the body language on display! GIDICH is going strong, motoring up these steep slopes. LUTSENKO and PRONSKIY on the other hand? They look done. Their heads are down, their bikes are swaying. Is this it, the decisive moment?
Yes. Yes it was. Even though PRONSKIY found a second wind it was never going to be enough. He knew what he had to do, he knew that he could afford to be aggressive. Nobody can touch him now, Yevgeniy GIDICH raises his arms in celebration knowing that he is the master of Kazakhstan. At least for this year.
Kazakh National Championships '23 Individual Time Trial
In their final year at the peak of their powers, the Kazakh ITT was set to be a duel between the specialists Daniil FOMINYKH and Mikhail KOCHETKOV. The latter was first on the circuit, setting an intermediate time of 25'14. With about â…– of the distance covered, FOMINYKH is up by 7".
Things don't change overly much through the rest of the course. Although KOCHETKOV's time of 1h01'10", FOMINYKH's is simply faster. In the end he is some 17" quicker, finishing in 1h00'53".
Kazakh National Championships '23 
