Famous Chris Horner to join Tour d’Azerbaidjan
By Amina Nazarli
Christopher Horner, the winner of the 2013 Vuelta a Espana, will
be at the start line in Baku for the 2015 Tour d’Azerbaidjan. His
Airgas-Safeway Cycling team was happy to accept an invitation to
appear in the race.
The team, along with Team Novo Nordisk, will be the first U.S.
based teams to appear in the Tour d’Azerbaidjan.
“I’m really looking forward to the race in May and I’m excited to
visit Azerbaijan,” Horner said. “Over my 20 years as a professional
cyclist I have had the opportunity to compete all over the world
and it is always fun racing in new places and experiencing
different cultures.”
Airgas-Safeway team manager Chris Johnson was also looking forward
to the race. “We're grateful to have the opportunity to travel to
Azerbaijan to compete in the tour. The organizers have done a great
job of attracting teams from all over the world and we're excited
about the course they have put together. We're bringing a strong
team to the race and will be looking to make the most of the
trip.”
General Secretary of the Federation Farhad Aliyev said it is great
to see that Horner is participating in the race. “It is an honor to
have riders with such a high profile in our race, not only for the
race itself, moreover for the spectators along the road, the media
and journalists from all over the world, the other teams and also
for the motivation of the organizers staff,” he noted.
The 2015 Tour d’Azerbaidjan scheduled for May 6-10 will bring together at least 24 teams from around the world will tackle the competition, facing a five stage race covering various parts of Azerbaijan. The line-up so far features four Professional Continental teams, 16 Continental teams, and four national teams.
The 24 teams of 6 riders each will form a peloton of 144 riders, with a possible 25th team bringing the total to 150.
The main distinctive feature of the 2015 Tour d'Azerbaidjan in comparison with last year is that the participants will have a chance to win a ticket for both Baku 2015 European Games and XXXI Summer Olympics 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @amina_nazarli
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz