Marko Kump wins 1st leader’s jersey at Tour d'Azerbaidjan
By Nigar Orujova
Marko Kump from Adria Mobile wins the first stage of the Tour d'Azerbaidjan being the fastest man of the bunch sprint in the streets of Sumgayit on May 6, Azerbaijan Cycling Federation reported.
This year, the international race will cover the entire country from the Caspian Sea waterfront in the capital city of Baku to the mountains around Gabala on May 6-10.
On the first day, Kump crossed the finish line in Sumqayit, just ahead of Francesco Chicchi (Androni Giacattoli) and Maksym Averin (Synergy Baku Cycling Project). That win also gave Marko Kump the first leader’s jersey in the race.
A three-man escape group dominated the stage, which ran 154 kilometers from Baku to Sumqayit. The stage also featured the race’s first ranked climb, with the points and jersey going to Elchin Asadov (Synergy Baku Cycling Project). The points jersey went to Kump.
Shortly after taking off, a three-man escape group formed, with
Elchin Asadov (Synergy Baku Cycling Project), Christopher Williams
(Novo Nordisk) and Zoltan Sipos (National Team Hungary). Andrei
Piashkun (Minsk Cycling Club) gave chase but was unable to catch
the leading trio. They built up a lead of up to five minutes.
The first ranked climb of the race came at km 58, with Asadov first
across the line, giving the homeland team Synergy Baku the first
climber’s jersey of this race.
At the first of the three intermediate sprints along the way, at km
70, Sipos claimed the first points, as he also did at the second
sprint.
The sprinters’s teams were not going to lose their chance, and by
the time the field set out on the 10 km closing city circuit
course, the gap had dropped to two minutes. The three leaders were
caught on the third of five laps. Almost immediately, Radoslav
Rogina (Adria Mobil) and Andrej Krasilnikau (Minsk Cycling Club)
started the next attack, but they didn’t build up much of a
lead.
Rogina was caught on the penultimate lap, and Krasilnikau shortly
after the start of the final lap. Synergy Baku set up the sprint,
but it was Kump who proved to have the fastest legs in the
field.
"The last lap there were a few crashes, because everyone wanted to be in the best position. My team put me in a good position for my final sprint and after that I was the best in the sprint. The whole day my team was in the front and I'm happy that I won for them," Kump said.
The peloton will start the second day of the race from the brand-new Baku 2015 Velo Park – located in the highlands of the seaside of Shikh settlement.
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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
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