Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Only twenty days left for the country to host Tour d’Azerbaïdjan-2015 the peloton taking place from the Caspian Sea waterfront in the capital city of Baku to the mountains around Gabala.

To be held on May 6-10 the third stage of the competition will be shown live on Eurosport. The first and second stages of the event will be broadcast in a short form.

Since March 21 the TV channel has broadcasted a promotional video prepared by Azerbaijan Cycling Federation. Moreover, “Eurosport” has also carried another video clip devoted to the Tour d’Azerbaïdjan-2015.

Earlier, the channel has showcased such significant competitions as "Tour de France", "Vuelta", "Giro d’İtalia" and so on.

The race opens on May 6, with the traditional first stage from Baku to Sumgayit, according to the Cycling Federation.

The start is again at the Big Flag Square on the Baku waterfront. The 154 kilometers include a category 3 ranked climb and three intermediate sprints. It ends with five laps of a closing circuit course in Sumgayit, before the first overall leader of the Tour d’Azerbaidjan 2015 is announced.

The stage two also starts in Baku, at the Velo Park, before the peloton sets out on the difficult 187 kilometers to Ismayilli. The stage includes three ranked climbs, including the race’s first category one climb. Adding to the difficulties, there is also a very steep descent just before that climb.

The third stage gets off to an early start in the mountain resort town of Gabala. It is a “there-and-back” stage, taking the field northwest to Sheki and the day’s only climb, before returning to Gabala, for a total of 177 km. The race leaves Gabala for the fourth stage on May 9, which takes it to the finish in Mingachevir.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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