Heydar Aliyev Anniversary Tour Starts Tomorrow
8.5.2012
The final preparations for the first Heydar Aliyev Anniversary Tour of Azerbaijan are nearing completion. The 2.2 stage race for U23 riders will start tomorrow with a team time trial over 30 kilometres in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku. The women will race tomorrow solo against the clock on a 26-kilometre course.
"We are very proud of this amazing event," said organizer Albrecht Röder this morning at the press conference. "We did a lot of work to make this happen, and I am glad the start is almost here. We have 180 riders in Azerbaijan right now, and 50 people on staff and 100 organizers in total.
"Cycling is the only sport where you can come to the people. With this sport we can show the landscape and the tourist attractions of the country, and that makes cycling unique. We hope to get a lot of spectators along the road."
Heydar Aliyev Anniversary Tour "We will have 18 teams on the start line tomorrow," said Röder, "and we are happy to provide the riders with a great route for the race. We have everything in place to offer an exciting race, including a team time trial, sprinting, climbing and a criterium to finish.
There are four jerseys to be won at the tour: the blue leader's jersey for the overall leader of the race, the red mountains jersey and the green sprint jersey. There is also a flame jersey for the best Azerbaijani rider, in the colours of the country's flag.
Cycling in Azerbaijan
"At the beginning of this year, the cycling federation of Azerbaijan initiated a major cycling project. One part of the program is this race, and we are happy about the results so far," said Theo Maucher, performance director of the federation.
"Cycling is an endurance sport," said Maucher, "and most of the competitors here have trained already for many years. Our riders started with cycling only a short time ago, so we cannot expect too much from them, but we are pleased to have four riders here at the start line. Two riders are with the Sumqayit Club, Emil Rüstemov and Qurban Taghiyev. And Akif Abdullayev will race for ATA Sport Club BAKU. This is the first international experience for all three riders. Tural Isgandarov is riding for the Specialized Concept Store Team, a small professional team in Germany. He gained his first international experience in the past few weeks. We hope our riders get lots of support from the people along the road. They will need it."
Women's time trial
Thirteen riders will line up for the women's race. Unfortunately, Emma Pooley (GBR) was forced to withdraw from the race, she has been unwell and not sufficiently recovered to travel to Azerbaijan and be in good shape for the race.
It will be a special day for Elena Tchalykh (Dolmans-Boels), who will ride in her home country. "She is the only rider from Azerbaijan who can quality for the Olympic Games, and this is part of her qualification," said Maucher. "She is well trained and is in a good shape. We hope for a podium spot for her because this would be a step towards London."
About the race
The Heydar Aliyev Anniversary Tour is a 2.2 U23 event on the UCI Continental Tour. The Cycling Federation of Azerbaijan, the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan will organise the race together with FREUNDE Eventlogistik from Germany.
Albrecht Röder
Condividi
