A HOME WIN

The customary "Tour d'Azerbaijan" cycle race has ended in a win for Azerbaijan's team for the first time. "Synergy Baku" won the race in all five stages.

Already in the first 154-kilometre-long stretch which started at Flag Square "Synergy Baku" member Elchin Asadov won the red "AZAL" T-shirt as the best cyclist on the mountainous stretches.

On the whole, this stage was won by Marko Kump who represented the Slovenian "Adria Mobil" team and received "Synergy's" dark blue T-shirt. The second and third places were taken by Francesco Chicchi (Italian "Androni Giocattoli" team) and Maksym Averin ("Synergy Baku" team) respectively, who were only insignificantly behind the winner.

In the second 187-kilometre stage from Baku to Ismailli the winner was Primoz Roglic ("Adria Mobil"); Matej Mugerli ("Synergy Baku") came second and Chris Horner ("Airgas Safeway") came third.

In the third stage the cycle racers covered the 177-kilometre-long Qabala-Sheki-Qabala stretch. The winner in this stage was Joshua Edmondson (Irish team "An Post-Chain Reaction"), just a second ahead of Marko Kump ("Adria Mobil") with Matej Mugerli ("Synergy Baku") coming third. In this stage, Alex Surutkovich, a member of the Azerbaijani team, won the "AZAL" red T-shirt as the best on the mountain stretch. 

The cycle racers covered the long, 205-kilometre-long stretch of the "Tour d'Azerbaijan" from Qabala to Mingyachevir on the fourth day. The winner of this stage was Daniel Turek (Israeli team "Cycling Academy Team").

The last stage in the "Tour d'Azerbaijan" took place in Baku on the highway route of the upcoming European Games. The cyclists covered 144 km round the roads of the Azerbaijani capital. This stage was a triumph for the "Synergy Baku" team. Having lost by 42 seconds to the Slovenian "Adria Mobil" in the final result for the four stages, the Azerbaijani team was not only able to make up this time, but to gain 29 seconds, thereby producing the best result of the 25 teams taking part in the many-day-long rally.

What is more, after receiving the red "AZAL" T-shirt as the best cyclist on the mountain stretches, in the third stage Alex Surutkovich did not surrender it to anyone in the two subsequent stages.

In the fifth stage round the capital the winner was a member of the Russian team "Rusvelo", Sergey Firsanov; a member of the Kazakhstan team, Alexandr Shushemoin, and Matej Mugerli ("Synergy Baku") tied in second-third place.

The first place in the cycle racers' individual scores was taken by Primoz Roglic. Two "Synergy Baku" cyclists came in the top ten:  Matej Mugerli came third and Maksim Averin seventh.

The best cyclist in the sprinters' competition was Marko Kump ("Adria Mobil") and among the under-23s Frantisek Sisr (Czech "Dukla Praqa"). Maksim Averin was recognised as the best Azerbaijani cyclist.

In these competitions the Azerbaijani team showed that it was ready for the European Games. The vice-president of the Cycling Federation, Sahib Alakparov, assessed the cycling results highly. "No team made any complaints in the course of the tournament. The participants were able to get to know Azerbaijan. They all saw that we are ready to hold any competition on a high level, including the First European Games," S. Alakparov told R+.

The vice-president of the European Cycling Union, Aleksandr Gusyatnikov, also noted that Baku is already completely ready to welcome the First European Games: "The Tour d'Azerbaijan" was organised on a high level. The last stage in the competitions was of a trial run for the European Games. I can quite confidently say that today Baku is completely ready for these competitions. Our "Synergy Baku" team's win is evidence of considerable progress having been made."

 The cycling race which has been held here for four years now was broadcast live on the Eurosport TV channel.