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.

For other uses, see Tour de Azerbaijan (disambiguation).
Tour of Azerbaijan (Iran)
Race details
DateOctober
RegionIranian Azerbaijan
English nameTour of Azerbaijan (Iran)
Local name(s)تور دوچرخه‌سواری بین‌المللی آذربایجان (in Persian)
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI Asia Tour 2.1 (as of 2016)
TypeStage race (Grand Tour)
OrganiserCycling Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Web sitewww.tourofiran.com
History
First edition1986 (1986)
Editions34 (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 (cyclist) (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
7Ghader Mizbani IRN2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2013, 2014
5Ahad Kazemi IRN1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2009
3Mohammad Reza Bajool IRN1986, 1987, 1988
2Hossein Mahmoudi IRN1989, 1990
Hossein Askari IRN2007, 2008
Samad Pourseyedi IRN2015, 2016
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References
  1. "Azerbaijan Tour". Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  2. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/team-illuminate-will-be-first-us-squad-in-tour-of-iran/
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