THE START: Jolfa, 10:00 local time
The 77 cyclists started the race. Only 18 kilometers from the Start, some 14 riders, in a clever move made the first breakthrough in the peloton. The peloton was clearly divided into two packs, the leading group keeping the 30 seconds distance from the peloton. The leading group included: SVESHNIKOV Kirill (6, from LOK - LOKOSPHINX), VAN BREUSSEGEM Elias (14) and GOEMAN Jonas (15, both from TIS - TARTELETTO – ISOREX), JAMAHISIAN GHALEHSEFIDI Amirhossein (22, from FSC - FOOLAD MOBARAKEH SEPAHAN), RAJABLOU Mohammad (31) and KOLAHDOUZ HAGH Amir (33, both from INT - IRAN NATIONAL TEAM), AIT EL ABDIA Anass (53, from VIB - VIB SPORTS ), DU PLOOY Rohan (62) and ORMISTON Callum (66, both from PRO – PROTOUCH), MOKHTARI MEMAR Farhad (76, from TYD - TIANYOUDE HOTEL CYCLING TEAM), IVASHKIN Anton (82, from MCC - MINSK CYCLING CLUB), MOHD SHUKRI Muhammad Shaiful Adlan (96, from TSC - TEAM SAPURA CYCLING), ROSDI Mohd Nor Umardi (105, from TSG - TERENGGANU INC. TSG CYCLING TEAM) and MAMMADOV Mahmud (153, from ANT - AZERBAIJAN NATIONAL TEAM). The slope and dank weather caused the leading group pace down the speed and at 10:43 the second group joined the leading group and once more one pack of the riders continued the race to maintain the pelotons pace by drafting.
Azzedine Lagab wins the Mountain Championship
Rush for the Mountain Championship was heated today. Mohammad GANJKHANLOU (26, from FSC - FOOLAD MOBARAKEH SEPAHAN) tried hard to maintain his championship; however, he failed to do it. Instead, LAGAB Azzedine (54, fromVIB - VIB SPORTS) won the MOUNTAIN CHAMPIONSHIP in the 2nd Stage. MOKHTARI MEMAR Farhad (76, from TYD - TIANYOUDE HOTEL CYCLING TEAM) and ALIZADEH CHAKHERLOU Jafar (131, from OMT - OMIDNIA MASHHAD TEAM) followed LAGAB to cross the mountain line.
Peloton divided into 3 groups to enter West Azerbaijan
The lengthy slope route was hard to tackle easily. A nervous rider in FOOLAD MOBARAKEH SEPAHAN team caused his team to be fined by the commissionaires. The peloton slowed down its pace and after one hour and 55 minutes of tough riding, the riders were divided into 3 groups on the road in the flat terrain to pass the borderline between East and West Azerbaijan Provinces. The three riders in the leading group rushed at a high speed toward Khoy. They were followed by a pack of 16 riders of the second group and the peloton was far behind.
SURPRISE AT YAMCHI (a small town en route)
Yamchi is a small town on the road. The race route passes through the town. Thousands of people stood on two sides of the road to cheer up the riders. The gathering of the people was so unexpected that the riders, the commissionaires and the media staff were all surprised to face such a warm welcome. The people carried flower bunches in their hands and some offered rose branches to the passing cycling caravan. The sincere and whole-hearted welcome from the citizens obviously added to the speed of the peloton.
SPRINTERS IN STAGE 2
At 12:50, the riders rushed to win the sprint race. Ganjkhanlou, losing the mountain race, tried hard to make up for the loss. However, the first sprinters included:
1- Amir Kolahdouz (33, from Iran)
2- Cristian Raileanu (94, from Malaysia)
3- Mohammad Ganjkhanlou (26, from Iran)
Two Riders Stop Racing
After two hours of tough competition, there happened some accidents. As a result, Nikolai Shumov (86, from Belorussia) and Khalil Khorshid (34, from Iran) fell down the bike and stopped racing.
The 2nd Stage: The Final Result
1- Youcef REGUIGUI (103, Malaysia)
2- Clinth HENDRICKS (65, South Africa)
3- Mohammad Ganjkhanlou (26, from Sepahan Isfahan)
The Jerseys:
Yellow Jersey: Youcef REGUIGUI (103, Malaysia)
Green Jeresy: Mohammad Ganjkhanlou (26, from Sepahan Isfahan)
White Jeresy: Mohammad Ganjkhanlou (26, from Sepahan Isfahan)
Mountain Champion: Hamid Pour Hashemi (32, Iran National Team)




