May 5/16 9:03 am - Boivin takes GC lead in Azerbaidjan

Posted by Editoress on 05/5/16
 

After an exciting final through the streets of Ismayilli, Maksym Averin scored a home victory for Synergy Baku Cycling Project in Stage 2 of the Tour d'Azerbaidjan.  Canadian national champion Guillaume Boivin (Cycling Academy) finished fourth for the second day in a row and takes the General Classification lead, plus the Points Jersey.

"This wasn't the first goal for today," explained Boivin, "but being in the top five in the first two stages gave me this jersey. It was a tough day today so I'm really happy with this result. I'm not a climber, so I'm just going to enjoy it for tonight and we'll see how it works out the following days. But for sure we're really happy that on today's Holocaust Memorial Day, being part of an Israeli team, we got this jersey."

The win is the first for Azeri rider at their home race, and a great boost for the development of cycling in Azerbaijan. Second place went to Markus Eibegger (Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels) and third to Alberto Cecchin (Team Roth).

Averin was part of a small group that survived to the finish after breaking clear over the final climb, along with Boivin. With Boivin's higher placings over the two stages so far in this Tour d'Azerbaidjan he assumed the lead in the general classification.

The mountain jersey also swapped shoulders, with Mauro Finetto (Unieuro Wilier) taking the KOM points on offer at the first two climbs of the stage. The sprint jersey is also a reward for Boivin, who has placed highly and scored points in both stage finishes so far.

It was under sunny skies that the peloton left the Velo Park in Baku and took off for the 187 kilometre stage to Ismayilli. There were multiple attempts to form a breakaway before one finally got clear, with nine riders gaining a maximum advantage of 1:30 before being caught with much of the stage still to race.

The breakaway of the day finally escaped from the peloton after 30 kilometres, staying in front for the majority of the stage, and building a maximum advantage of 1:50. With six riders involved in this escape, Bora - Argon 18 was keen to keep their advantage in check and gradually closed the break down.

It was at 50 kilometres from the finish line in Ismayilli that the breakaway was caught by the chasing peloton. Shortly after the re-grouping, two riders tried to get clear heading into the final of the stage: Daniel Turek (Cycling Academy Team) and William Clarke (Drapac Pro Cycling).

Results

Stage 2: Baku to Ismayilli, 186.5 km
1 Maksym Averin (Synergy Baku Cycling Project), 4:29:45
2 Markus Eibegger (Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels)
3 Alberto Cecchin (Team Roth)
4 Guillaume Boivin (Cycling Academy Team)
5 Daniel Schorn (Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels), all s.t.

GC
1 Guillaume Boivin (Cycling Academy Team), 8:04:04
2 Daniel Schorn (Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels)
3 Alberto Cecchin (Team Roth)
4 Maksym Averin (Synergy Baku Cycling Project),
5 Markus Eibegger (Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels), all s.t.

Jerseys
Blue “Synergy” (leader): Guillaume Boivin (Cycling Academy Team)
Red “AZAL” (mountain): Mauro Finetto (Unieuro Wilier)
Green “SOCAR” (points): Guillaume Boivin (Cycling Academy Team)
Magenta “Ata” (young): Ildar Arslanov (Gazprom-Rusvelo)