Tour of Azerbaijan (Iran)
Tour of Azerbaijan (Iran), also known as the Tour of Iranian Azerbaijan or Azerbaijan Tour is an annual multiple stage road bicycle racing held in Iran since 1986, named after Iranian Azerbaijan. It is a UCI 2.1 category race and is part of the UCI Asia Tour. Tour of Iran (Azerbaijan) is the most prestigious cycling tour in Iran and it is the oldest standing cycling tour in Asia and Middle East.
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| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Date | October |
| Region | Iranian Azerbaijan |
| English name | Tour of Azerbaijan (Iran) |
| Local name(s) | تور دوچرخهسواری بینالمللی آذربایجان (in Persian) |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI Asia Tour 2.1 (as of 2016) |
| Type | Stage race (Grand Tour) |
| Organiser | Cycling Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran |
| Web site | www |
| History | |
| First edition | 1986 |
| Editions | 34 (as of 2019) |
| First winner |  Mohammad Reza Bajoul (IRI) |
| Most wins | Ghader Mizbani (IRI) (7 wins) |
| Most recent |  Savva Novikov (RUS) |
The tour routes commences from Tabriz the largest city in Iranian Azerbaijan and it passes through Lake Urmia, Urmia, Jolfa, Meshginshahr, Sareyn and Kaleybar, and then it finishes at Tabriz.
History
Tour of Azerbaijan (Iran) established on 1986 by Asghar Khodayari and Akbar Goharkhani with the name of Tour de Urmia Lake. The stages of the tour were modified several times. In 2010 one stage of the tour was held in Nakhichevan, an autonomous republic of Azerbaijan. In 2013 Azerbaijan International Cycling Tour was renamed to Tour of Azerbaijan (Iran).[1]
In 2016 for the first time a cycling team from the United States, Team Illuminate, announced to participate in the race. They said they want to show "how cycling can connect people".[2]
The 32nd edition of the tour rescheduled from May to October to avoid coincidence with Iran's presidential election. The authority of the tour announced that the schedule of the following years will be on May as usual.
Past winners
| Year | First place | Second place | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tour of Azerbaijan | |||
| 1986 | Mohammad Reza Bajool (IRN) |
Davoud Zeynali (IRN) |
Abdolqasem Rahmaniyan (IRN) |
| 1987 | Mohammad Reza Bajool (IRN) |
Hassan Milani (IRN) |
Ahad Pourniyazi (IRN) |
| 1988 | Mohammad Reza Bajool (IRN) |
Akbar Amjadi (IRN) |
Mehran Safarzadeh (IRN) |
| 1989 | Hossein Mahmoudi (IRN) |
Mostafa Chaychi (IRN) |
Alireza Zangiabadi (IRN) |
| 1990 | Hossein Mahmoudi (IRN) |
Abas Ismaili (IRN) |
Alireza Zangiabadi (IRN) |
| 1991 |  Tamer Avral (TUR) |
Ayhan Aytakin (TUR) |
 Jamal Sheykhooni (SYR) |
| 1992 | Hassan Sharifzadeh (IRN) |
Khosrow Qamari (IRN) |
Hussain Eslami (IRN) |
| 1993 |  Kasta Kolov (TKM) |
Majid Vafaei (IRN) |
Azari (IRN) |
| 1994 | Dmitrij Katmakov (TKM) |
Majid Sheyk (SYR) |
 Manis Shabloni (ARM) |
| 1995 |  Yurij Chekov (KAZ) |
 Valery Tityev (KGZ) |
Hossein Askari (IRN) |
| 1996 | Sergej Belousov (KAZ) |
Ahad Kazemi (IRN) |
Kosonov (KAZ) |
| 1997 | Andrey Mizurov (KAZ) |
Valery Titiyov (KAZ) |
Sergej Belousov (KAZ) |
| 1998 | Ahad Kazemi (IRN) |
Ghader Mizbani (IRN) |
Andrej Kashin (KAZ) |
| 1999 | Ahad Kazemi (IRN) |
Hossein Askari (IRN) |
Ghader Mizbani (IRN) |
| 2000 | Ghader Mizbani (IRN) |
Hossein Maleki (IRN) |
Ahad Kazemi (IRN) |
| 2001 | Ahad Kazemi (IRN) |
Hossein Askari (IRN) |
Vazgen Golijaniyan (ARM) |
| 2002 | Ghader Mizbani (IRN) |
Mert Mutlu (TUR) |
Ahad Kazemi (IRN) |
| 2003 | Ahad Kazemi (IRN) |
Mehdi Sohrabi (IRN) |
Pawel Novdak (TUR) |
| 2004 | Alexey Kolessov (KAZ) |
Mostafa Rezaei Khormizi (IRN) |
Mert Mutlu (TUR) |
| 2005 | Ghader Mizbani (IRN) |
Ahad Kazemi (IRN) |
Omar Hasanein (SYR) |
| 2006 | Ghader Mizbani (IRN) |
Ahad Kazemi (IRN) |
Mostafa Rezaei Khormizi (IRN) |
| 2007 | Hossein Askari (IRN) |
Ghader Mizbani (IRN) |
Rahim Ememi (IRN) |
| 2008 | Hossein Askari (IRN) |
Ghader Mizbani (IRN) |
Ahad Kazemi (IRN) |
| 2009 | Ahad Kazemi (IRN) |
Hossein Askari (IRN) |
Ghader Mizbani (IRN) |
| 2010 | Ghader Mizbani (IRN) |
Amir Zargari (IRN) |
Hossein Askari (IRN) |
| 2011 | Mehdi Sohrabi (IRN) |
Hossein Askari (IRN) |
Ghader Mizbani (IRN) |
| 2012 |  Javier Ramírez (ESP) |
Abbas Saedi Tanha (IRN) |
Hossein Askari (IRN) |
| Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan) | |||
| 2013 | Ghader Mizbani (IRN) |
 Milan Kadlec (CZE) |
Amir Kolahdozhagh (IRN) |
| 2014 | Ghader Mizbani (IRN) |
Samad Pourseyedi (IRN) |
Ramin Mehrabani (IRN) |
| 2015 | Samad Pourseyedi (IRN) |
Rahim Ememi (IRN) |
Ramin Mehrabani (IRN) |
| 2016 | Samad Pourseyedi (IRN) |
Ahad Kazemi (IRN) |
Rahim Ememi (IRN) |
| 2017 |  Rob Ruijgh (NED) |
Ilya Davidenok (KAZ) |
 Nicola Toffali (ITA) |
| 2018 | Dmitry Sokolov (RUS) |
 Meron Abraham (ERI) |
 Venantas Lašinis (LTU) |
| 2019 | Savva Novikov (RUS) |
 Cristian Raileanu (MDA) |
 Youcef Reguigui (ALG) |
Multiple winners
| Number of wins | Rider | Country | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Ghader Mizbani | IRN | 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2014 |
| 5 | Ahad Kazemi | IRN | 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2009 |
| 3 | Mohammad Reza Bajool | IRN | 1986, 1987, 1988 |
| 2 | Hossein Mahmoudi | IRN | 1989, 1990 |
| Hossein Askari | IRN | 2007, 2008 | |
| Samad Pourseyedi | IRN | 2015, 2016 |
References
- "Azerbaijan Tour". Retrieved 12 June 2014.
- http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/team-illuminate-will-be-first-us-squad-in-tour-of-iran/
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tour of Iran (Azerbaijan). |
- Official website
- Tour of Azerbaijan palmares at Cycling Archives
- Statistics at the-sports.org
- Azerbaïjan Tour at cqranking.com
- video of 2010 tour