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Tour d'Azerbaijan, good opportunity to acquaint other nations with Azerbaijan

6 May 2014 17:50 (UTC+04:00)
Tour d'Azerbaijan, good opportunity to acquaint other nations with Azerbaijan

By Nigar Orujova

Tour d'Azerbaidjan race will be a good opportunity to show people around the world what a lovely place Azerbaijan is and will help other nations to realize the tourism potential of the country.

This statement came from the race Director Albrecht Roder at a press conference before the event, which will start on May 7.

The ground is completely ready for the race, he said. "We are confident that the tournament will be held at the highest level".

"The first and second rounds of the Tour d'Azerbaidjan may be held in a place with strong wind which will make the competitions more excited. Last round will be held in areas including the territory of the Icherisheher (Old City)," Roder said.

The traditional race this year will gather 150 cyclists representing 25 teams from 33 countries.

"We are holding this tournament for the third time. This year, the tournament status in the international classification raised to the level of 2.1. Thus, Tour d'Azerbaidjan received the same status as the similar bike tour that takes place in Turkey, which is a good achievement," he said.

Australia has sent the largest delegation to the Tour d'Azerbaidjan - it is presented by 15 athletes. Teams from Russia and Italy are represented by 12 cyclists. The winners of the previous races Tour d'Azerbaidjan 2012 and 2013 will also attend the competition.

The organizing committee of the tour consists of about 50 people, 20 of them are German, and another 30 are Azerbaijani specialists.

Roder also named athletes from South Africa, Italy, Russia and Turkey as favorites of the race.

Vice-President of the Azerbaijan Cycling Federation Sahib Alakbarov said the tournament will be very imposing.

"Eight teams out of the 17 existing teams in pro-continental level will participate in the Tour d'Azerbaidjan. The winners and participants of major tournaments as the Tour de France and Spanish La Vuelta, will participate in the tournament. This shows the high level of participants," he said.

Azerbaijan will be represented by six athletes, three of them are national athletes - Elchin Asadov, Samir Jabrayilov and Maxim Averin.

"Azerbaijani sportsmen have one purpose to represent the country properly. It should also be kept in mind that the level of participation and the struggle for victory will be very high," Alakbarov said.

"The members of the young team Synergy Baku Cycling Project have gone a long way in a year and have already won the first places 15 times in various tournaments," he said.

"At the same time, we don't want to be limited to these results and will continue to work to strengthen the national team and coaching staff so that Azerbaijani team can honorably present the country at the upcoming European games and the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro," Alakbarov highlighted.

Organized by Azerbaijan Cycling Federation, the tour was held twice in Baku and Azerbaijani regions in May. Holding the annual cycling competition in Azerbaijan shows the rising domestic interest in this sport.

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