Three Synergy Baku riders in Olympics
By Laman Ismayilova
Three Synergy Baku Cycling Project riders will represent their native lands in the 2016 Rio Olympics road race on Saturday. Maksym Averin will represent Azerbaijan, as the first cyclist from the country to qualify for the Olympics.
Matija Kvasina will ride for Croatia, and Ioannis Tamouridis
will take on the road race for Greece for the second Olympics in a
row.
The road race in Rio will be held on Saturday, August 6. It is a
difficult 241.5-kilometer section, including a 2 kilometer stretch
of cobblestones and several difficult climbs.
“Going to the Olympics is a dream come true to me. Representing my
country here, and being the first road cyclist in the Olympic Games
for Azerbaijan is a major honour,” said Averin.
“In my heart I want to give my best at the Games out of gratitude
for my team, my land and my family,” said Kvasina. “Just the fact
that I have qualified and been given this chance to represent my
land land in something big like the Olympics is a victory for
me.”
“It is a big achievement to qualify for the second time in a row
for the biggest sport event on the planet,” Tamouridis said.
“Nothing can substitute for just plain hard work,” said team
manager David McQuaid. “To get to an Olympic Games is a dream of
any athlete. But in order to turn dreams into reality, it takes an
awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and the
ability to bounce back from the not-so-good days.”
“On behalf of the team and everyone involved along the way, we wish
our three riders in the road race a great race and a great
Olympics.”
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