Azerbaijan to develop cycling
By Nigar Orujova
Azerbaijan will ensure establishment of schools and clubs for cycling in the near future, Sahib Alekperov, Vice President of the Azerbaijan Cycling Federation and chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 2013 Tour d'Azerbaidjan (Tour of Azerbaijan), told a press conference dedicated to the results of the international cycling race on Sunday.
The Tour d'Azerbaidjan cycling tour, dedicated to the 90th anniversary of national leader Heydar Aliyev, started in the capital Baku last week and ended on Sunday.
According to Alekperov, some results of the work carried out in the country in this area will be achieved by the end of this year and from the beginning of next year Azerbaijan will be represented by its team in international cycling races.
"For the time being, we need to be patient, as rushing and taking some decisions prematurely, first of all, wouldn't work even if we wanted to do so, because it takes time. On the other hand, premature solutions can only create problems for us," Alekperov said.
It is first necessary to create logistics for the development of this sport. In particular, road infrastructure needs to be created and work on the reconstruction of the cycling racetrack completed, he said.
"The country has a new Bike Park where a new cycling racetrack will be built. The construction project on the cycling track is already being prepared. I think that with the creation of the logistics, the number of cyclists will increase," Alekperov said.
The fifth phase and the final of the cycling tour ended on Sunday with the victory of Tomas Vaitkus of the Lithuanian national team. The second place was taken by Sean de Bie of the Leopard-Trek Continental Team of Luxembourg, and Stan Godrie of the Dutch Rabobank ranked third.
Cyclist of the Synergy Baku Cycling Project Connor McConvey was the best on the mountainous road of the tour. On the sprint ladder, Azerbaijani team member Christoph Shweizer was victorious.
The winner of the general classification was Sergey Grechin (Torku Sekerspor, Turkey). The second place was taken by Alexander Surudkovich (Synergy Baku Cycling), while the third place went to Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev of Kazakhstan, who was called the best young bike rider of the Tour.
Portuguese team Efapel-Glassdrive won in the general team classification.
Elchin Asadov was declared the best Azerbaijani cyclist.
The final, 144 kilometer long stage, passed through the central avenues and streets of Baku, and after 12 laps finished in front of the Government House.
An interesting and extraordinary cycling show took place prior to the start of the fifth phase.
The fourth stage of the tour -- the most difficult one compared to the other stages -- ended with the victory of Jan Hirt, a cyclist of the Leopard-Trek Continental Team of Luxembourg, on Saturday.
The second such tour in Azerbaijan brought together 25 teams from 24 countries to compete on May 1-5.The International Cycling Union (UCI) Europe Tour 2.2 Category tour is organized by the Azerbaijan Cycling Federation with support of the Youth and Sports Ministry, the National Olympic Committee and the UCI.
The first professional cycling competition took place in Azerbaijan in May 2012 with the participation of 17 teams from 15 countries.