Baku, April 18, AZERTAC
Azerbaijani Synergy Baku Cycling Project is returning to racing at Banjaluka-Belgrade this weekend. The two-stage UCI 1.2 race will take place on April 18 and 19.
Dennis van Winden, Matej Mugerli, Alex Surutkovych, Ioannis Tamouridis and Azeri riders Elchin Asadov and Ismail Iliasov will take on the race for Synergy Baku. Both stages are expected to end in a bunch sprint.
Unfortunately, the team will have to do without star sprinter Maksym Averin. In a training crash last week he injured his hand and the team decided to withdraw him as a precaution.
“He still has a large open wound on one finger. Our fear was that should the weather turn bad he may run the risk of infection and that is not something we want to risk leading up to Tour de Bretagne and then of course Tour d'Azerbaidjan,” explained team manager David McQuaid. “We - team and rider - are probably being over-cautious but in this instance, with what is ahead, we prefer to play it safe, even if these races at the weekend would have been ideal for Max.”
Synergy Baku Cycling Project for Banjaluka-Belgrade: Elchin Asadov, Ismail Iliasov, Matej Mugerli, Alex Surutkovych, Ioannis Tamouridis and Dennis van Winden.
Being loyal to its slogan "For a sustainable future" Synergy Group OJSC is the main sponsor of the first professional cycling team of Azerbaijan "Synergy Baku Cycling Project".