Azerbaijan, Baku, May 10 / Trend A. Hasanov /
The second stage of the international bicycle tour, dedicated to the 89th anniversary of national leader Heydar Aliyev has started in Baku today.
About 17 teams, including foreign ones each of which consists of six cyclists went on the route from Rashid Behbudov street to Bakikhanov street and to Tbilisi prospect in Baku and further in the direction of Guba - Shamakhi - Ismayilli.
After starting in the team race, the participants on the second stage of the competition will have to ride 176 kilometres on the Baku - Ismayilli route. This stage contains three categories of difficulty while riding the mountainous terrain.
The peloton will move to the finish in Ismayilli through 150 kilometres after the start reaching the highest point of the tour.
A bicycle tour in memory of Heydar Aliyev is the competition of a 2.2 U23 category (for sportsmen under 23 years old), is included in the calendar of Continental Tour UCI (World Cycling Union).
The organisers are the Azerbaijani Cycling Federation, the National Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. German company FREUNDE Eventlogistik deals with any technical issues.
This professional cycling competition is being carried out in Azerbaijan for the first time.