Biography
Early life and introduction to cycling
Natarov was born on 28 December 1996 in Talgar, Almaty Region, Kazakhstan, where he spent his childhood.
He began cycling while at school, around 2006, at the specialised youth Olympic reserve cycling school named after Andrey Kivilev in Talgar. His first road cycling coach was Alexander Nikolayevich Morozov.
In 2011, after completing the eighth grade, Natarov moved to Almaty, where he continued his education and athletic training at the Republican Boarding School for Gifted Children in Sports named after Karken Akhmetov. He studied there from the ninth through the eleventh grade, combining his education with training and competition in road cycling. After finishing school, he continued his studies at the college affiliated with the same sports institution.
Published materials from the 2013 Shkolnik Kazakhstana cycling race list Natarov as a representative of the Talgar specialised youth Olympic reserve sports school and name A. N. Morozov and S. G. Tretyakov among his coaches.
His first notable results at national level came as a junior. In 2014, Natarov became the Kazakhstan junior national champion in the individual time trial. In April of the same year, at the national junior stage-race championships in Taldykorgan, he won the 25 km individual time trial with a time of 32 minutes 58 seconds.
Under-23 career
In 2015, while continuing his studies at college, Natarov began competing at continental level for the Kazakh team Seven Rivers Cycling Team. From 2016 to 2018, he rode for Astana City.
Astana Pro Team and the WorldTour
Following the 2018 season, Natarov joined Astana Pro Team. At the team's official presentation for the 2019 season, he was introduced as one of nine new riders who would join the team from 1 January 2019.
During his first season at WorldTour level, Natarov won the team time trial at the 2019 Asian Road Championships as part of the Kazakhstan national team. The winning team also included Zhandos Bizhigitov, Dmitriy Gruzdev, Artyom Zakharov, Yevgeniy Gidich and Daniil Fominykh.
In August 2019, he took his first professional victory by winning the general classification of the Tour of Almaty. On the final stage, Natarov attacked on the finishing climb and placed third, which was enough to move into first place overall. Aleksandr Vlasov finished second in the general classification.
In 2020, Natarov continued to race for Astana, taking part in events including the Tour de Pologne and Tirreno–Adriatico. At the 2020 UCI Road World Championships in Imola, he finished 74th in the men's road race.
Ahead of the 2021 season, one of Natarov's main goals was to make his debut in a three-week Grand Tour. In an interview, he identified the Vuelta a España as the most likely race for his Grand Tour debut.
In August 2021, he was selected for the Astana–Premier Tech squad for the 2021 Vuelta a España. He completed all 21 stages of his first Grand Tour and finished 91st in the general classification. During the same season, Natarov finished third in the individual time trial and fourth in the road race at the Kazakhstan National Road Championships.
In October 2021, Natarov signed a two-year contract extension with Astana, covering the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Championship season in 2022
In March 2022, Natarov won his second Asian title in the team time trial. Over the 24 km course in Dushanbe, the Kazakhstan team of Natarov, Igor Chzhan, Yevgeniy Gidich and Yevgeniy Fedorov recorded a time of 26 minutes 49 seconds to take first place.
On 22 June, Natarov won the elite individual time trial at the Kazakhstan National Road Championships in Shchuchinsk. He completed the 30 km course in 37 minutes 46 seconds, finishing 51 seconds ahead of runner-up Igor Chzhan.
Later that year, he finished 11th in the road race at the Asian Road Championships and 32nd in the individual time trial at the 2022 UCI Road World Championships.
Final seasons
In 2023, Natarov completed his fifth and final season with the WorldTour squad Astana Qazaqstan Team. At the Kazakhstan National Road Championships, he finished eighth in the individual time trial.
In 2024, Natarov rode for Bross Cycling Team. His recorded appearances during the season included races in China; ProCyclingStats lists no further international professional racing results after the 2024 season.
