The Final stage in the 34th Iran (Azerbaijan) Cycling Tour started from Sare’in to Tabriz at 10:20 local time on Sunday, October 6, 2019. The riders rode about 10 kilometers, a neutral ride to the Stop & Start line on the Ardebil Tabriz road.
Immediately after the Start, five riders including Maral-Erdene Batmunkh (104, Malaysia), Bahram Najafi (141, DFT, Ardebil), James Fourie (63, Protouch, South Africa), Jonas Goeman (15, TARTELETTO, Belgium), Samir Jabrayilov (85, Minsk Club, Belorussia) ran in a breakaway attempt ahead of the peloton and made the leading group with a space of 2.6 minutes from the peloton. The riders in the peloton were obviously under the absolute dominance of the Nokosphinx Team from Russia. The Russian riders decided the speed of the peloton and helped their teammate, Savva Novikov, ride while taking draft.
The crosswind blew all along the race from the right side. The cold breeze and the gusts hindered the velocity of the race. The five riders in the leading group won both of the sprints and the mountain climb. They crossed over the mountain line in the following order:
I- The 1st Mountain Race. The winners:
1-?Maral-Erdene Batmunkh(104, Malaysia)
2-?Bahram Najafi (141, DFT, Ardebil)
3-?James Fourie (63, Protouch, Sothe Africa)
4-?Jonas Goeman (15, TARTELETTO, Belgium)
5-?Samir Jabrayilov (85, Minsk Club, Belorussia)
The five leading riders collected good points for themselves on the sprints and mountain climbs and were all encouraged to win the last stage of the race if they had already lost the battle to be the champion of the overall race. However, helped by his teammates in the Russian team, Savva Novikov, who had scored two stage victories in his Tour battle, including the most prestigious win in the 4th stage, was forcing his energy forth to be the champion of the Tour. However, the last 30 kilometers of the race introduced other results.
There was no fight for the green jersey (sprinter) and red jersey (mountain climber)! Sure, the classification was led for a day by the winner of the three sprints, Mohammad Ganjkhanlou. At the end of the 4th stage, Ganjkhanlou had collected enough scores to be the best sprinter of the race. Hamid Pourhashemi also ensured his championship in mountain climbing.
Only 30 kilometers to the Finish Line, there was unexpected runaways in the race. First, AIT EL ABDIA Anass (53), VOGT Mario (95), BATMUNKH Maral-Erdene (104), FOURIE James (63), GOEMAN Jonas (15), JABRAYILOV Samir (85), and Bahram Najafi (141) did a breakaway toward the Finish Line. Later, the peloton was broken into several pieces, each riders trying to win the race in the 5th stage. The following result was achieved:
II- Stage 5 Classification
1- Thomas Joseph (11, from TARTELETTO – ISOREX, Belgium)
2- Mohammad Ganjkhanlou (26, from Sepahan)
3- Youcef Reguigui (103, from TERENGGANU INC. Team)
Overall, the following riders had already collected enough scores to be recognized as the best riders.
The General Classification: The Three best Riders of the Race:
1- Savva Novikov (2, from LOKOSPHINX, Russia) Champion of Tour
2- Hamid Pourhashemi (32, from Iran National Team)
3- Cristian Raileanu (94, TEAM SAPURA CYCLING, Malaysia)
The Best Three Teams of the Tournament:
1- TYD - TIANYOUDE HOTEL CYCLING TEAM (from China)
2- TEAM SAPURA CYCLING (from Malaysia)
3- VIB Team (from Bahrain
The White Jersey (The Best Youngest Rider):
- Savva Novikov (2, from LOKOSPHINX, Russia)
