Synergy Baku finishes third in South Africa
By Nigar Orujova
The Synergy Baku Cycling Project placed third in the team time trial which opened the Mzansi Tour in South Africa.
The Azerbaijani team finished only five seconds later than the winning team -Rapha Condor JLT of Great Britain.
Chris Schweizer pulled on the King of the Mountains jersey after the 5.5km team time trial.
Team manager David McQuaid was proud of his riders in the team's first team time trial. "To my memory, there has been no TTT before, 2013 included."
"It's an impressive ride, if you look at the gaps behind," he noted.
Schweizer, better known for being a sprinter than a climber, was able to celebrate a rare climbing victory, even if it was more or less coincidental. "Just because I crossed the line first, I got the jersey. But it was a good team effort and the jersey really belongs to every single rider on our team," the rider said.
It was not an easy ride, he noted. "It was only 5.5km, but at 1,700 m altitude, and halfway was a steep uphill with a following false flat. Racing here has been incredibly different compared to low altitude - really tough! I took the steep bit on the front followed by Matt (Brammeier) who makes me really fight to get back on the last wheel.'"
"After my turn, after the downhill, I got a little gap, but Brammi jumped in and saved me. From the uphill to the finish Phil (Lavery) did an impressive long turn which allowed me to get a short breath to lead my guys to the finish," he said.
Synergy Baku is Azerbaijan's first professional cycling team which has shown good results in many road races.