Azerbaijan achieves its goals in cycling

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

Spirit and basis of necessary materials exist for the development of the cycling sport in Azerbaijan, said Sahib Alakbarov Vice-president of the Azerbaijan Cycling Federation.

“For many years, cycling had been out of public attention as a sport in Azerbaijan. Under Fazil Mammadov, Head of the Azerbaijan Cycling Federation, the country has managed to improve the sport significantly," he said at a press conference in Baku.

An exhibition underway called “Cycling Sport through the eyes of young artists” is playing a big role in promoting this sport, he stressed.

Saying that the best achievements are gained through the publicity, Alakbarov noted that this requires to develop all aspects of cycling as well as making the bicycle popular in the country.

"Today's exhibition just aims one of these aspects," he said. "This initiative has been put forward by the federation before it was supported by the Azerbaijan Painters Association and the State Art Academy. We would also like to express our gratitude to the Youth and Sport Ministry and Baku Youth and Sport Administration for joining us in organising this event. The result that we have received about 200 paintings over a couple of month means we have achieved to our object."

The vice-president also mentioned the venue being a proper place for holding the exhibition in terms of drawing the public attention. The Park Boulevard in the heart of the city is the place where ten thousands of people walk through every day.

"I think most of our commitments have successfully been completed. We look forward to organising a lot of events like this,” he noted.

The winners of an exhibition titled ““Cycling Sport through the eyes of young artists” in painting, sculpture and decorative art sections were awarded with valuable prizes.

The best works were chosen by the jury headed by national artist Agali Ibrahimov. The first prize went to Shamsaddin Boyukduzlu. Rahib Garayev and Vuga Agayev took the second and third places, respectively.

The history of cycling in Azerbaijan goes back to 1930. Since the early 90's, Azerbaijan hosted a wide range of bicycle contests and Azerbaijani bicyclists participated in local and international championships.

The first professional cycling competition took place in Azerbaijan in May 2012 with the participation of 17 teams from 15 countries.

The Tour d'Azerbaidjan-2014 gathered 150 cyclists representing 25 teams from 33 countries this year and was won by Ilnur Zakarin from Russia's RusVelo team. The race was held in Azerbaijani capital and regions on May 7-11.

Azerbaijan's capital Baku will organize the Tour d'Azerbaidjan-2015 cycling on 2.1 category competition on May 6-10, which will look forward to the Baku 2015 European Games.