Tour of Iran (Azerbaijan)
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| Date | October |
|---|---|
| Region | Iranian Azerbaijan |
| English name | Tour of Iran (Azerbaijan) |
| Local name(s) | تور دوچرخهسواری بینالمللی آذربایجان (Persian) |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI Asia Tour 2.1 (as of 2016) |
| Type | Stage race (Grand Tour) |
| Organiser | Cycling Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran |
| First edition | 1986 |
| Editions | 31 (as of 2016) |
| First winner |
 Mohammad Reza Bajoul (IRI)
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| Most wins |
Ghader Mizbani (IRI) (7 wins) |
| Most recent |
Samad Pourseyedi (IRI)
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Tour of Iran (Azerbaijan) or Azerbaijan Tour is an annual multiple stage road bicycle racing held in Iran since 1986, named after Iranian Azerbaijan. It is a UCI 2.1 category race and is part of the UCI Asia Tour. Tour of Iran (Azerbaijan) is the most prestigious cycling tour in Iran and it is the oldest standing cycling tour in Asia and Middle East.
The tour routes commences from Tabriz the largest city in Iranian Azerbaijan and it passes through Lake Urmia, Urmia, Jolfa, Meshginshahr, Sareyn and Kaleybar, and then it finishes at Tabriz.
Tour of Iran (Azerbaijan) established on 1986 by Asghar Khodayari and Akbar Goharkhani with the name of Tour de Urmia Lake. The stages of the tour were modified several times. In 2010 one stage of the tour was held in Nakhichevan, an autonomous republic of Azerbaijan. In 2013 Azerbaijan International Cycling Tour was renamed to Tour of Iran (Azerbaijan).
In 2016 for the first time a cycling team from the United States, Team Illuminate, announced to participate in the race as the first cycling squad from US. They said they want to show "how cycling can connect people".
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Wikipedia