Description
May 05, 2017
Tour d’Azerbaidjan 2017 – Stage 3 – Gabala – Gabala : 177,2 km
Tour d’Azerbaïdjan – is a 2.1 multi-stage bicycle race of the UCI Europe Tour,
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May 05, 2017
Tour d’Azerbaidjan 2017 – Stage 3 – Gabala – Gabala : 177,2 km
Tour d’Azerbaïdjan – is a 2.1 multi-stage bicycle race of the UCI Europe Tour, which takes place in Azerbaijan around May. Each day, participants start on a new phase of the race. The race is held in 7 regions of Azerbaijan and finishes in the capital, Baku.[1] Other large cities the race moves through are: Oguz, Chamakh, Maraza, Ismayilli, Gabala, Sheki.
Kirill Pozdnyakov (Synergy Baku Cycling Project) defends overall race lead
Race Report
Gabala, 05.05.2017 – Matej Mugerli (Amplatz – BMC) has won the third stage of the Tour d’Azerbaidjan after a chaotic final with crashes in the peloton. The ex-Synergy Baku rider was the fastest from a small group that managed to avoid any of the several crashes in the final kilometers of the stage. Points jersey wearer Mihkel Räim (Israel Cycling Academy) finished second, while KOM leader Vitaliy Buts (Kolss Cycling Team) came third. Kirill Pozdnyakov (Synergy Baku Cycling Project) remains in the blue leader’s jersey, with a 39 seconds advantage.
In rainy and cloudy weather conditions the 115-strong peloton rolled out from Gabala for the 177.2km third stage, that would bring them from Gabala to Sheki and then back to Gabala for an uphill finish. After several attacks right from the start, a group of five riders formed the break that would stay clear for much of the stage.
Daniel Diaz (Delko Marseille Provence KTM), Christoph Schweizer (Team Sauerland NRW P/b Henley & Partners), Jan Andrej Cully (Dukla Banska), Eriks Tom Gavars (Rietumu Banka – Riga) and Ryota Nishizono (Bridgestone Anchor) built a maximum advantage of 5′ over the peloton. In the heavy weather conditions, the peloton looked quite relaxed, but going into the final 50km they picked up the chase and the gap started to drop.
Looking to profit from his day out front, Schweitzer took maximum points at the two intermediate sprints from the breakaway. With 20km to go the leaders still had an advantage of 55″ over the chasing peloton, but were down to four – including added firepower from Janos Pelikan (Amplatz – BMC) who bridged across the gap.
Diaz, Schweizer, Nishizono and Pelikan were working well together, maintaining their 55″ advantage heading into the finale, but the peloton had its sights set on a sprint finish and in the final 10km the race came back together. On the run in to the finish the chaos unfolded, seeing several crashes affect the race and a final group of just 32 riders sprinted for the stage win, from which Mugerli came through as the strongest rider on the day.
Results
Stage 3 – Gabala – Gabala
1. Matej Mugerli (Amplatz – BMC) 4h20’32”
2. Mihkel Räim (Israel Cycling Academy) s.t.
3. Vitaliy Buts (Kolss Cycling Team) s.t.
4. Pier Paolo De Negri (Nippo Vini Fantini) s.t.
5. Alex Turrin (Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia) s.t.
General Classification
1. Kirill Pozdnyakov (Synergy Baku Cycling Project) 12h12’32”
2. Oleksandr Polivoda (Kolss Cycling Team) +0:00:39
3. Mykhaylo Kononenko (Kolss Cycling Team) +0:00:43
4. Dennis Van Winden (Israel Cycling Academy) +0:00:43
5. Eduard Vorganov (Minsk Cycling Club) +0:00:46
Jerseys
Blue “Synergy” (leader): Kirill Pozdnyakov (Synergy Baku Cycling Project)
Red “AZAL” (mountains): Vitaliy Buts (Kolss Cycling Team)
Green “SOCAR” (points): Mihkel Räim (Israel Cycling Academy)
Magenta “Ata” (young rider): Felix Intra (Team Sauerland NRW P/b Henley & Partners)