Tour d’Azerbaijan 2017 Ends In Baku, Pozdnyakov Wins

The Tour d’Azerbaijan, an annual bike race, wrapped up on Sunday, where Azerbaijani cyclist Kirill Pozdnyakov came in first place in two out of the three cycling categories.

Pozdnyakov was crowned champion, as he finished the five-stage, 834.5 kilometer race in 20 hours, ten minutes and eight seconds, beating Hermann Pernsteiner from Austria, who clocked in at 20 hours, 10 minutes and 54 seconds, and Ukrainian Oleksandr Polevoda (20:11:20).

“This victory is very important for me and it has been realized thanks to the efforts of all the team members,” Pozdnyakov, age 28, told Trend News Agency on Sunday.

The five-day race, which began May 3 in the Caspian Sea coastal city of Baku, passed through regions including Ismayilli, Gabala, Agsu, Shemakhi, Pirkuli, and as far west in the country as  Oghuz and Sheki, just south of Azerbaijan’s border with Russia.

“Of course, my victory in Ismayilli gave me the opportunity to perform more calmly at the next stages because I was much ahead of the rivals and eventually became the champion,” Pozdnyakov said, referring to the secons stage of the race where he gained enough points in the race to set him up for the championship title.

This year the race included a new addition, namely the Agsu Passage and considered one of the most dangerous mountain road segments in the Azerbaijan. The fifth and last stretch of the competition was held at Baku’s Absheron Peninsula as the cyclists returned to the capital city.  

Outpacing Columbian John Anderson Rodriguez Salazar and Italian Alex Turrin, Azerbaijan’s Pozdnyakov also ranked first in the mountain biking category.

Latvia’s cyclist Krists Neilands, who represents Israel Cycling Academy, showed the best result in the fifth and final stage of the race, which was a title category unto itself. Completing what was a distance of 158 kilometers, Neilands clocked in at three hours, 53 minutes and 56 seconds. Turkish Olympian Ahmet Örken, from Torku Şekerspor, came in 21 seconds later than Neilands, and took second place in the fifth and final stage category. American athlete Edwin Avila, from Team Illuminate, ranked third.

“I’m really happy I could deliver this win for my team, it’s a great end of a successful Tour d’Azerbaijan for us,” the 22-year old Neilands told Eurosport.

“It was our plan to go for the sprint with our best sprinter, Mihkel Räim. But my legs felt good and I decided to just go for it and to see where it would end,” he explained.

Tour d’Azerbaijan, now in its fifth year, brought together 22 club teams from 18 countries. Azerbaijan was represented by the Synergy Baku Cycling Project, including Elchin Asadov, Elgun Alizade, Samir Jabrayilov, Josip Rumac, Kirill Pozdnyakov and Anvar Asanov.

Latvia’s cyclist Krists Neilands, who represents Israel Cycling Academy, show the best result following the last, fifth stage of the Tour d’Azerbaijan 2017. / Eurosport