Tour of Azerbaijan (Iran)
 | |
| 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 |
| Type | Stage race |
| Organiser | Cycling Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran |
| Web site | www |
| History | |
| First edition | 1986 |
| Editions | 36 (as of 2023) |
| First winner |  Mohammad Reza Bajoul (IRI) |
| Most wins | Ghader Mizbani (IRI) (7 wins) |
| Most recent | Saeid Safarzadeh (IRI) |
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.
History
Tour of Azerbaijan (Iran) was established in 1986 by Asghar Khodayari and Akbar Goharkhani, with the name 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 their participation in the race. They said they wanted 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.[citation needed] The organizers of the tour announced that the schedule of the following years will be in May as usual.[citation needed]
In 2020 and 2021, the race was not held.[citation needed][clarification needed]
Past winners
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 Bajoul | 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.
- ^ "Team Illuminate will be first US squad in Tour of Iran". 27 April 2016.
External links
- Official website
- Tour of Azerbaijan palmares at Cycling Archives (archived)
- Statistics at the-sports.org
- Azerbaïjan Tour at cqranking.com
- video of 2010 tour