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Azerbaijan once again hosted the bicycle Tour d'Azerbaidjan-2017 dedicated to the 94^th anniversary of the All-national Leader Heydar Aliyev under the International Union of Cyclists Category 2.1. The competition was remembered by the successful performance of the representative of the Azerbaijani team.

On the first day of Tour d'Azerbaidjan-2017, the participants started at the National Flag Square and finished in front of the Sumgait Mayor’s Office. A member of the Israeli team pro-continental Israel Cycling Academy, Michel Raim, was faster than other athletes to cover a distance of 150 km - 3 hours 4 minutes 11 seconds. At the same time, Emilse Liepins representing the continental Latvian team Rietumu Banka-Riga, and the cyclist of the Italian pro-continental club Nippo Vini-Fantini, Pierre Paolo de Negri, crossed the finish line almost simultaneously. Thus, the winner was determined by a photo finish. All the members of the Azerbaijani continental team Synergy Baku finished the route in a common field.

The best mountain biker of the stage was the member of the continental Ukrainian team Kolss, Vitaly Buts. He was awarded a red AZAL t-shirt. A purple jersey of ATAHOLDING was awarded to the best young bicyclist, the representative of the pro-continental U.S. club Novo Nordisk, Mehdi Benhamud.

Ahead of all, Kirill Pozdnyakov, a member of the elite national team of Azerbaijan and the continental club Synergy Baku, experienced a joy of victory at the 186.5 km long Baku-Ismayilli stage. After covering the distance in 4 hours 47 minutes and 49 seconds, the cyclist outperformed the second member of the Ukrainian team Kolss, Alexandr Polivod, for 38 seconds. The third, with the leader behind for 42 seconds, became Dennis van Vindes from the team Israel Cycling Academy.

The victory at this stage allowed Kirill Pozdnyakov to become the leader of competition and get the blue Synergy jersey. In addition, having scored the most points on the intermediate sprints, the cyclist also took over the green jersey SOCAR of the best sprinter.

Kirill Pozdniakov retained his leadership in the general classification after the third stage of Gabala-Oguz-Sheki-Oguz-Gabala, a length of 177 km. The winner of this stage was the former member of Synergy Baku, and currently a member of the Austrian Amplatz BMC team, the Slovenian Matei Mügerli. He went through the route in 4 hours 20 minutes 32 seconds. Last year, Matei Mügherli was the winner at this stage as part of the Synergy Baku team. Having shown the same time with the winner, the member of the Israeli team Mikel Raim and the representative of Kolss, Vitaly Buts, took second and third places, respectively.

As for the other members of the Synergy Baku team, Kirill Pozdnyakov and Josip Rumach, finishing in the overall peloton, took the 14th and 15th places according to the photo finish. This result allowed Kirill Pozdnyakov to retain leadership in the overall standings and get the blue jersey of the leader.

On the fourth day of the Tour d'Azerbaidjan-2017, the cyclists started in front of the Gabal Mayor’s Office and covered a distance of 164 km along the Ismayilly-Aghsu-Shamakhi route and crossed the finishing line to Pirgulu in front of the Training Center of the Ministry of Taxes.

In contrast to previous years, inclusion of the Akhsu Pass in the itinerary has brought an additional nuance to the struggle. The winner of the most difficult stage of the tour with the result of 4 hours 2 minutes 1 second was the representative of the Illuminate team from the USA, Edwin Avila. The second and third places with a lag of 2 and 5 seconds, respectively, were shared between Ildar Arslanov of the Russian club Gazprom-Rusvelo and Alex Turin representing Wilier Triestina of Italy.

The start and finish of the last stage of the competition took place in the Azadligh Square. This time the participants covered a distance of 158 km along the Baku-Absheron-Baku route. The winner of this stage with a solo finish was a member of the team Israel Cycling Academy, Christ Nylands - 3 hours 53 minutes 56 seconds. Ahmet Orken from the Turkish club Torku Şekerspor and Edwin Avila from İlluminate (USA) took the second and third places, behind the winner for 21 seconds only.

The t-shirts of leaders remained with their previous owners - a member of the elite national team of Azerbaijan Kirill Pozdnyakov, retaining the leader's Synergy t-shirt, became the winner of Tour d'Azerbaidjan-2017. In addition, a successful representative on mountain roads, the native representative also took over AZAL’s red t-shirt as the best mountain biker. As a result, Kirill was also awarded a special t-shirt designed for the best Azerbaijani biker.

Tour d'Azerbaidjan-2017 winner Kirill Pozdnyakov shared his impressions with journalists: "I am glad that I won. This victory is extremely important for me, because I won in Azerbaijan. The luck does not belong to just one person. I got it thanks to the efforts of all team members. Undoubtedly, the victory in Ismayilli with a large margin made it possible to feel more calmly at the next stages. After all, I was much ahead of rivals in time and eventually became the winner. In the near future, we will participate in tours in Slovenia and Slovakia. We have a good team. Everything is OK with me and with my physical training. I believe I will succeed in these competitions as well".

The vice-president of the Azerbaijan Cycling Federation, member of the Steering Committee of the European Union of Bicycles Sahib Alakbarov expressed his satisfaction with the results of the competition. According to him, they plan to add yet another stage to the competition next year: "At Tour d'Azerbaidjan, we first encountered unpleasant weather. It was raining and hailing. However, natural disasters brought a peculiar shade to the competition. The main thing is that the teams performed with pleasure. I think that the bikers liked the passes. We took one more step towards acquainting the world with Azerbaijan. Another addition is being discussed in the Tour d'Azerbaidjan. On their return from Pirgulu, the athletes went on vacation. And we, along with the guests, went to the mountains of Khizi. Guests liked this route very much. These roads are very suitable for competitions. There are sharp descents and rises, sharp turns. I think next year very interesting competitions will be held. Today's result was expected. Our team was rejuvenated, and due to this, we faced some difficulties. But I'm glad that Kirill Pozdnyakov justified our hopes. This is just the beginning. With this team, we will achieve even greater success. Before that, we twice won a team victory. Every victory is sweet to me. Being the first in such a struggle against the experienced rivals, which involved six pro-continental teams, is a huge success."

The vice-president of the European Union of Cyclists (UEC), the head of the committee on road racing Alexander Gusyatnikov highly estimated the organisation of the competitions. He stressed that he was constantly discussing the further development of this sport with the leadership of the Azerbaijan Cycling Federation: "We conduct consultations not only during the tour. In recent years, Azerbaijan has been developing the cycling very well, and your country is doing a great job in this direction. An example of this is the wonderful organisation of this prestigious event, Tour d'Azerbaidjan. A bicycle plant was commissioned in Ismayilly. Now, Azerbaijan will not buy bicycles in other countries, since it has a domestic production potential."

Next year, Tour d'Azerbaidjan will be amended with a sixth stage involving a ride to the Khizi Mountains.