Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team

Title:

Mizbani takes UCI Asia Tour lead after victory in Iran

Date:

09.06.2009

Ghader Mizbani Iranagh took the lead of the UCI Asia Tour for the first time after powering to his second overall victory of the new season in the Tour of President in Iran from May 11 to 15.

The veteran Iranian, 34, made the decisive break to win a mountainous third stage of the race. He was accompanied by Kazakh team mate (Petrochemical Tabriz) Andrey Mizurov in a two-man breakaway that placed them 1m23s ahead of the chasers at the end of the stage from Tehran to Kandovan.

That break proved decisive, as further threats were kept under tight control by the Petrochemical Tabriz team, now regarded as the most powerful in Asia. The team also bagged the top two places in the mountains classification of the race, with Ahad Kazemi Sarai and Mizbani respectively. The team’s sprinter Mehdi Sohrabi was second to Azad University Iran's Hossein Nateghi in the points classification.

The UCI Asia Tour peloton then moved east, for the seven-day Tour of Japan from May 17 to 24. Overall victory went to the Spanish rider Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Carmio Oro-A Style) ahead of South Korean Hyo Suk Gong (Seoul Cycling). This outcome was more-or-less decided during the individual time trial on the fifth day that climbed from Subashiri up Mount Fuji. Pardilla clocked up the fastest time, ahead of Hyo.

Interestingly, five of the flatter stages in the Tour of Japan were won by the Australians from Team AIS: Leigh Howard bagged three victories, leaving two stage wins for team mate Jack Bobridge. The second stage of the race was won by Hong Kong's former track World Champion Wong Kam Po.

The Kazakhstan national team, which went to the Tour of Japan with a strong line-up of well seasoned European professionals, were stopped in their tracks by Pardilla, when Dmitry Fofonov lost the leader's jersey on the fifth day.

The Tour de Kumano, also in Japan, began just four days later, and provided the Kazakhstan team with reason to celebrate: Valentin Iglinskiy won three of the four stages on offer to sign an emphatic overall victory. Only the opening time trial, which was won by Poland's Mariusz Wiesak, escaped him.

Mizbani enters June with a total of 217.5 points, ahead of former UCI Asia Tour leader Aymen Ben Hassine (Doha team), who has 179.66 points.

June provides two points of action: the Tour de Korea from June 5 to 14, and the Petaling Jaya City Criterium in Malaysia on June 20 and 21.

Photo: The Tour of Kumano took the riders through spectacular Japanese countryside

Title:

Mizbani takes UCI Asia Tour lead after victory in Iran

Date:

08.05.2009

The Iranian veteran emerged the winner of the inaugural Tour of Singkarak, a new 2.2 race held on the Indonesian island of Sumatra from April 30 to May 3. The 34-year old Petrochemical Tabriz rider took charge of the general classification lead after winning Stage 3a from Bukit Tinggi to Sawahlunto. He finished this decisive stage with a 33 seconds advantage over Amir Zargari of the Azad University Iran team.

In the teams competition, Petrochemical Tabriz completed their second win in successive races after winning the title in the Jelajah Malaysia barely days earlier. Azad University Iran's Hossein Nateghi bagged the points classification win, while Doha Team's Algerian rider Ezzedine Jagab took the mountains classification title. Indonesia's best rider in the race was won by veteran Tonton Susanto, who was riding for the Indonesian Elite national squad.

Jelajah Malaysia

Three days before the start of the Tour of Singkarak, the Jelajah Malaysia concluded a highly successful edition, not just for the organisers, but also for Mizbani's Petrochemical Tabriz team. Mizbani finished a creditable third behind Australian Timothy Roe, at 20 the youngest ever winner of the race, and his compatriot in the Savings & Loans team, Jai Crawford.

The Malaysian sprinter Anuar Manan also made history during the Jelajah Malaysia, by winning his third consecutive points classification in this race.

Action in Thailand

Another veteran had stamped his mark on the scene earlier in the month in the Princess Mamackakri Sirindhon’s Cup Tour of Thailand, from April 4th to 9th. The 36-year old American Andrew Bajadali, riding for the Kelly Benefits Strategies team, completed the six-stage tour with a one minute and seven seconds advantage over Thailand's promising 21-year old rider Puchong Chaiudomsil.

The Tunisian rider Aymen Ben Hassine remains in the lead of the UCI Asia Tour ahead of Abdelbaset Hannachi (Algeria) and Mattia Gavazzi (Italy).

Photo: The riders cross the Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur during the final stage of the Jelajah Malaysia.

Title:

Wins for American Tyler Hamilton and Iran’s Tabriz Petrochemical team

Date:

30.07.2008

With the teams classification under their belt, and their rider Hossein Askari finishing third in the overall classification, the Iranian team also came away with the mountains classification, best Asian rider and best Asian team.

Tyler Hamilton back in winning form

However, it was Tyler Hamilton, of the American team Rock Racing, who won the seventh edition of the Tour of Qinghai Lake from July 11 – 20. Hamilton took his first stage win since 2004 when he bagged the eighth stage, a mountain top finish that ended a 150.8km route from Xining to Mengyuan. He out-foxed Poland's Marek Rutkiewicz in the final dash to the line – a move which would eventually prove decisive in Hamilton's favour.

Mountains classification

It was from that eighth stage on, that Tabriz Petrochemical rode for the mountains classification with Ahad Kazemi Sarai holding a firm grip on the lead. Ahad Kazemi eventually won the mountains classification to add to Askari's third overall. Askari also took home the victory in the Asian riders' classification, which saw a one-two finish for the team with Ghader Mizbani second in that classification. Tabriz Petrochemical’s win in the teams classification logically put them at the top of the Asian Teams classification.

It is worth noting that Askari and Mizbani were also part of the Giant Asia Racing Team's surprise package that won the overall teams classification in Malaysia's Le Tour de Langkawi in 2006.

Memorable outing for Rasmussen

Denmark's Alex Rasmussen also had a highly memorable outing, taking four of the 10 stage victories on offer, including the final stage, to take the points classification win.

In all, there were 20 teams competing in this edition of the Tour of Qinghai Lake which has firmly established itself as one of the three biggest and most popular races on the UCI Asia Tour calendar, along with Le Tour de Langkawi and the Tour of Qatar.