Azerbaijan
Tour de Azerbaijan
3 May - 7 May 2017
TEAM Pro Team
CITY Various
STAGES 5
TEAM Pro Team CITY Various STAGES 5
Brian Kamstra recaps stage 1 of Tour d’Azerbaijan, where teammate Mehdi Benhamouda took the Best Young Rider Classification following a 14th place finish.
Race: Tour d’Azerbaijan, stage 1
Start/Finish: Baku/Sumgayit, Azerbaijan
Distance: 148.6km
BAKU, AZERBAIJAN — 22-year old Mehdi Benhamouda leads the Best Young Rider Classification after stage one at the Tour d’Azerbaijan on Wednesday, finishing 14th in a mass sprint on the crowded streets of Sumgayit.
Benhamouda and his five teammates all finished in the same time as stage winner Mikhel Raim of Estonia, who also leads the General Classification with four tough stages to go.
132 riders started on the Caspian seacoast in Baku in front of a giant flag of Azerbaijan for the mostly flat stage. With a strong tailwind the group rode a very fast first 70km before a breakaway could establish any advantage on the group. After the feedzone five riders escaped to a maximum gap of three minutes before their capture on the final lap of the finishing circuits.
Team Novo Nordisk Sport Director Pavel Cherkasov
“The goal at the beginning of the day was to get into the breakaway, and then do everything we can for Mehdi and Quentin in the sprint. But with the high speed and the tailwind on the first day it took an hour and a half of the guys trying every time before the escape succeeded. After that we put Brian Kamstra and Stephen Clancy on the front with some other teams to control the break and then bring it back. In the finish we did good, but there is still work to do to put power and experience together at the end.”
Brian Kamstra
“The pace was really high, and it took a long time for the breakaway to get going. Once it did we got together with Team Cycling Academy to bring it back. On the finishing circuits it was really hectic and there were a lot of crashes. Hopefully the peloton will calm down tomorrow and be less nervous.”
Gallery:
Results:
- 1st: Mikhel Raim (Israel Cycling Academy): 3:04:11
- 2nd: Emils Liepens (Rietume Banka – Riga): st
- 3rd: Pier Paolo De Negri (Nippo – Vini Fantini): st
Team Novo Nordisk Results:
- Mehdi Benhamouda: 14th: st
- Romain Gioux: 17th: st
- Brian Kamstra: 31st: st
- Quentin Valognes: 38th: st
- Umberto Poli: 59th: st
- Stephen Clancy: 120th: st
(Photos: ©Oran Kelly)
Romain Gioux recaps stage 2 of the 2017 Tour d’Azerbaijan, where the Team Novo Nordisk squad was pitted against steep climbs and a stiff headwind.
Race: Tour d’Azerbaijan, stage 2
Start/Finish: Baku/Ismayili, Azerbaijan
Distance: 186.5km
BAKU, AZERBAIJAN — Thursday’s mountainous stage two at the Tour d’Azerbaijan put the peloton into action against a stiff headwind in the first hour, and only on the first of three categorized climbs did a group of around two dozen riders move into a slight breakaway, with a 30-second advantage until the feedzone at kilometer 84.
Team Novo Nordisk rider Brian Kamstra attempted to cross the no-man’s land between the escapees and the main bunch, but was swept up on a long downhill as the Azerbaijan countryside changed from desert brown to lush and forested greenery.
As the race moved over the final two climbs, the breakaway’s advantage moved out to around 2 minutes, but after heavy crosswinds and a spring thunderstorm with icy rain and hail, the main bunch sat up to let the gap expand. Kirill Pozdnyakov of Azerbaijan won the stage and took over the General Classification leader’s jersey ahead of Ukrainian rider Oleksandr Polivoda and Dennis Van Winden of the Netherlands.
Mehdi Benhamouda started stage two in the leader’s jersey of the Best Young Rider classification, but was caught out on the hills and isolated on the climbs in the heaviest part of the hail and thunderstorm, abandoning the race along with 12 other unlucky riders.
Team Novo Nordisk Sport Director Pavel Cherkasov
“The stage started hard, with a climb and a headwind, and the speed was very low in the first hour. Then we turned east, into the crosswinds, and the group broke up. Brian tried to get across on the climb, but was stuck in the middle and when the hailstorm came the entire bunch sat up. Our guys will have more opportunities in the next stages.”
Romain Gioux
“It was very hilly today, and with the crosswinds after the climb it was very hard. Then we had icy rain. That made it worse. Tomorrow it will be hilly, but less than today. I think a bunch sprint of maybe 60 riders will happen, and I plan to be in it.”
Gallery:
Results:
- 1st: Kirill Pozdnyakov (Synergy Baku Cycling Project): 4:47:49
- 2nd: Oleksandr Polivoda (Kolss Cycling Team): 0:39 back
- 3rd: Dennis Van Winden (Israel Cycling Academy): 0:43 back
Team Novo Nordisk Results:
- Stephen Clancy: 84th: 25:25 back
- Brian Kamstra: 85th: st
- Umberto Poli: 91st: st
- Romain Gioux: 93rd: st
- Quentin Valognes: 96th: st
- Mehdi Benhamouda: DNF
(Photos: ©Oran Kelly)
Race: Tour d’Azerbaijan, stage 3
Start/Finish: Gabala/Gabala, Azerbaijan
Distance: 177.2km
GABALA, AZ — Team Novo Nordisk set out for a day of rolling hills, strong winds and a crash-filled sprint finish on Friday at stage three of the Tour d’Azerbaijan. With five riders in the race, each move on the out-and-back circuit was a calculation in teamwork and effort.
Thousands of local fans came out to the start and watched as the peloton rolled away on a slight descent into a strong tailwind.
A five-rider breakaway formed almost immediately, and quickly stretched its advantage out to nearly six minutes, as the peloton chose to wait until the return point in the village of Sheki and a strong headwind on the way back to Gabala before mounting a chase.
A short, powerful rainstorm halfway through the race soaked the riders before the sun came back out to dry the roads quickly before the finish.
With less than 10km to go the race was all together, but not after a set of nervous crashes at the front and back of the peloton sent lots of riders to the ground, including Umberto Poli and Romain Gioux. Neither were injured and both resumed racing immediately.
In the final 3km only Brian Kamstra survived ahead of even more crashes, finishing in the same time as stage winner Matej Mugerli of Slovenia. Stage one winner Mikhel Raim of Estonia and Ukraine’s Vitaliy Buts finished off the podium.
Saturday the Tour d’Azerbaijan climbs to its highest point at Pirgulu over a relatively short 164km. But the stage won’t be easy, with two categorized climbs and a mountaintop finish.
Team Novo Nordisk Sport Director Pavel Cherkasov
“The teamwork in the final 25km was important today because the peloton was very nervous and there was a strong headwind. Our guys pulled themselves together to get a rider towards the front for the sprint. The finish was a long, slight incline, more of a power sprint than anything else. Tomorrow we go up into the mountains and it should be a long, tough day in the saddle.”
Quentin Valognes
“Going out today was very fast, because there was a tailwind and it started on a descent. For the finish it was the opposite, and we did good work against the headwind and uphill. When it rained in the middle of the race there was a lot of fighting for position in the peloton to go back to the cars and take jackets and avoid the wind.”
Gallery:
Results:
- 1st: Matej Mugerli (Amplatz – BMC): 4:20:32
- 2nd: Mikhel Raim (Israel Cycling Academy): st
- 3rd: Vitaliy Buts (Kolss Cycling Team): st
Team Novo Nordisk Results:
- Brian Kamstra: 37th: st
- Stephen Clancy: 78th: 2:24 back
- Romain Gioux: 82nd: 3:30 back
- Quentin Valognes: 105th: 5:27 back
- Umberto Poli: 107th: st
Stephen Clancy recaps the 2017 Tour d’Azerbaijan.
Race: Tour d’Azerbaijan, stage 3
Start/Finish: Gabala /Pirgulu, Azerbaijan
Distance: 164.4km
PIRGULU, AZ — The Queen Stage at the 2017 Tour d’Azerbaijan kicked off under stormy skies on Saturday, as the peloton jostled its way out of the resort town of Gabala over two categorized climbs to finish on top of a mountain.
A breakaway of three riders pushed out under a heavy tree canopy at the start of the race, but not after a long struggle to escape. The trio did not last long, however, as the race turned uphill in the village of Agsu and the climbers came to the front.
Edwin Avila of Colombia won ahead of Russia’s Ildar Arslanov on a windy but dry plateau near a space observatory in the village of Pirgulu. Italy’s Alex Turrin finished just behind to complete the podium.
Team Novo Nordisk rider Quentin Valognes abandoned the race on a day with more than 2,000m of climbing. Teammates Romain Gioux, Brian Kamstra, Stephen Clancy and Umberto Poli all finished with the majority of riders on the day.
Sunday’s final stage in downtown Baku races through the restored old city, and should provide dramatic action over the cobblestone alleyways on the seaside hills of Azerbaijan’s capital city.
Team Novo Nordisk Sport Director Pavel Cherkasov
“The rain was threatening all morning, but it never materialized and the whole peloton was overheating in the first hour after a very fast start. Quentin suffered on the climbs but he went pretty deep the last few days. It’s good to get to the Queen Stage here in Azerbaijan and we’re looking forward to Sunday’s race in Baku.”
Stephen Clancy
“We were all dressed up in rain gear at the start, and we thought it was going to be heavy rain throughout the day. Lots of people were trying to peel off clothes in the first hour and cover the attacks at the same time, so it was pretty hectic.”
Gallery:
Results:
- 1st: Edwin Avila (Team Illuminate): 4:02:01
- 2nd: Ildar Arslanov (Gazprom-RusVelo): 0:02 back
- 3rd: Alex Turrin (Willier Triestina – Selle Italia): 0:05 back
Team Novo Nordisk Results:
- Brian Kamstra: 66th: 26:50 back
- Umberto Poli: 74th: st
- Romain Gioux: 75th: st
- Stephen Clancy: 99th: st
(Photos: ©Oran Kelly)
Race: Tour d’Azerbaijan, stage 5
Start/Finish: Baku/Baku, Azerbaijan
Distance: 158km
BAKU, AZ — Romain Gioux finished 13th out of an elite field on Sunday in the fifth and final stage at the Tour d’Azerbaijan. The French rider in his first professional season survived a hard day on the cobblestones and hills of the historic old town of Baku to score his second Top-15 finish of the year.
Sunday’s fifth stage began on the shores of the Caspian Sea, with the peloton stretching out and away from the city center before returning to take five tough laps through Azerbaijan’s capital city.
An early breakaway of five riders fell apart inside Baku, and quickly refilled itself with multiple attacks off the front. Krists Nielands of Latvia broke away solo in the final lap to win the race by 21 seconds.
Gioux and his teammates Brian Kamstra, Umberto Poli and Stephen Clancy all rode in the front group over the 13km circuit, with a 2k climb and more than 1.5km of narrow, twisting and cobblestone alleyways.
Behind the winner a field of 50 riders, less than half the remaining peloton, chased for the field sprint. Turkey’s Ahmet Orken won the group for second on the day, with Saturday’s Queen Stage mountain winner Edwin Avila of Colombia in third.
Gioux moved up 30 places on the final General Classification with his sprint result, and will now pack his suitcase and fly to Sacramento to recover and prepare for next week’s Tour of California.
Team Novo Nordisk Sport Director Pavel Cherkasov
“Sunday was our strongest stage, with the goal of being at the front and in position when the race entered the circuits in Baku. The guys did just that, and it paid off. Unfortunately Brian flatted on the second-to-last lap, otherwise he would have been in the first group with Romain for the finish.”
Romain Gioux
“This kind of 2k climb is perfect for me. But before the climb was the cobbles, and I don’t like cobbles because I am too small. But I had good legs today, so I passed the cobbles each time with no trouble. Now after dinner tonight I go to bed and get up very early for 17 hours on the planes – plus jetlag. But it’s a pleasure for me to go there because I am really looking forward to the Tour of California.”
Gallery:
Results:
- 1st: Krists Neilands (Israel Cycling Academy): 3:53:56
- 2nd: Ahmet Orken (Torku Sekerspor): 0:21 back
- 3rd: Edwin Avila (Team Iluminate): st
Team Novo Nordisk Results:
- Romain Gioux: 13th: 0:21 back
- Brian Kamstra: 58th: 5:15 back
- Umberto Poli: 65th: 5:18 back
- Stephen Clancy: 74th: 8:14 back