Tour d'Azerbaïdjan
 |
|
| Date | May |
|---|---|
| Region | Azerbaijan |
| Local name(s) | Tour d'Azerbaïdjan |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | Professional |
| Type | UCI Europe Tour |
| Organiser | Cycling Federation of Azerbaijan, Union Cycliste Internationale, Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan, National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan |
| First edition | 2012 |
| Editions | 6 (as of 2017) |
| First winner |
 Youcef Reguigui (ALG)
|
| Most wins | No repeat winners |
| Most recent |
 Kirill Pozdnyakov (AZE)
|
Tour d’Azerbaïdjan – is a 2.1 multi-stage bicycle race of the UCI Europe Tour, which takes place in Azerbaijan around May. Each day, participants start on a new phase of the race. The race is held in 7 regions of Azerbaijan and finishes in the capital, Baku. Other large cities the race moves through are: Oguz, Chamakh, Maraza, Ismayilli, Gabala, Sheki.
From 9 to 13 May 2012 the international cycling tour in memory of Heydar Aliyev was held. The tournament was a logical continuation of the last year's event, "Big Caucasus". But unlike its predecessor, it consisted of five stages, and became the first professional cycle event in the history of independent Azerbaijan. The competitions were held under the auspices of the UCI category 2.2 U23 (for athletes under 23 years old).
In general, the race was attended by 180 cyclists, 16 of whom were women. There were 4 national, 4 continental and 12 club teams, 6 cyclists in each. About fifty members of the support staff accompanied the athletes during the race. Male cyclists competed in individual and team competition, women were competing in personal race.
International cycling tour in memory of the national leader Heydar Aliyev started from square Azadlig (Freedom Square) in Baku.
The first day of the event included a bicycle race for women. Each female cyclist made it to 25 km. Elena Chalykh from Azerbaijan won the competition. Elena Chalykh, who won the license for the Olympic Games in London, crossed the finish line after making a distance within 34 minutes 57 seconds.
At the first stage the race was held between the 18 men's teams competed in the 30-kilometer distance. Russian club «Itera Katyusha» won, reaching the finish line in 36 minutes 38 seconds. The Kazakh national team was the second to finish, while the German club «Specialized Concept Store» took third place.
On May 10, in the second phase of the tour, cyclists reached 176-kilometer distance along the route of the Baku-Ismailly, which included three mountain top peaks on the tops of the Greater Caucasus. The winner of stage 2 was the Spanish cyclist Rubio Hernandez. The first-place winner coped with the distance in 4 hours 41 minutes and 39 seconds. Youcef Reguigi was the leader in the overall standings after the second stage.
Stage 3 started in Gabala with flat section of 20 kilometers distance length. Then the riders moved to the highlands, to the cities of Sheki and Oguz. In general, leaving behind a difficult 160-kilometer distance, the competitors finish in Gabala. Dmitry Vernidub won the1 place, of the 3 stage of the international cycle tour. The leader of the standings Youcef Reguigi finished right behind the winner with the distance difference of one meter. The third to win was a Ukrainian Maxim Vasiliev, immediately followed by the winner of the 2nd stage - Ruby Hernandez.
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Wikipedia