A brief look at the Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan)s history

On the occasion of getting closer to the start of 32nd Tour of Iran, we are going to have a brief look at the Tours history. Eight Championship titles of Tabriz Petrochemical Team at Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan) is one of its significant points which now is a part of UCI Asia calendar at 2.1 Road races category.
 

Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan) first held by Department of Physical Education and East Azarbaijan Cycling Board at this province and West Azarbaijan in 1986 as Tour of Urumia Lake.
At first, there were only teams from Iran and number of teams were less than 10, at the end of the tour East Azarbaijan A was first in the Team Classification and Khuzestan and East Azarbaijan B teams were second and third respectively.
At individual classification, Mohammad Reza Bajool from Isfahan was crowned champion and Davood Zeynali from East Azarbaijan and Abdul-Qasim Rahmanian from Khuzestan were second and third respectively.
 

At the second edition of tour, East Azarbaijan, Tehran and Isfahan alongside with Mohammad Reza Bajool from Isfahan and Hasan Milani and Ahad Poor Niazi both from East Azarbaijan were ranked first to third.
The third edition of Tour of Iran saw Tehrans team become champion and Mohammad Reza Bajool from Isfahan, Akbar Amjadi from East Azarbaijan and Mehran Safarzadeh from Tehran were the three top riders at General Classification.
At the 4th Edition of Tour of Iran, East Azarbaijan A, Khorasan and Tehran were the best teams at team classification. Hossein Mahmoodi and Mostafa Chaichi from East Azarbaijan and Alireza Zangi Abadi from Kerman teams ranked top three at general classification.
At the fifth edition of International Cycling Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan), Kerman, East Azarbaijan and Tehran teams ranked top three at team classification and Hossein Mahmoudi from East Azarbaijan, Abbas Esmaeili from Tehran and Alireza Zangi Abadi from Kerman ranked first to three at general classification respectively.
The sixth edition of Cycling Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan) saw the first appearance of foreign teams, at the end, Syria, Turkey and East Azarbaijan teams were top three teams and at general classification, Tamer Avral and Ayhan Aytakin both from Turkey and Jamal Sheykhooni from Syria were ranked top three.
The seventh Tour of Iran finished with East Azarbaijan A team crowning as champion and Tehran and Kerman teams became second and third respectively, Hasan Sharifzadeh from East Azarbaijan, Khosrow Ghamari from Markazi and Hossein Eslami from Kerman were top three riders at general classification.
With Political triumph in Old Soviet Union, the country splitted into new republics who are known CIS Countries. This made new opportunity to Tour benefit with new interests on participation at Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan).
At the eighth edition of Tour of Iran, Tehran, East Azarbaijan and Turkmenistan were ranked as best teams at team classification and Kasta Kolov from Turkmenistan, Majid Vafaei from Tehran and Azari from Isfahan became first to third riders at general classification.
 

Turkmenistan, Armenia and East Azarbaijan teams ranked top three teams of the 9th edition of Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan) and Dimitrij Katmakov from Turkmenistan, Majid Sheyk from Syria and Manis Shablooni from Armenia ranked first to three at general classification respectively.
The 10th edition of Tour of Iran saw teams from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and East Azarbaijan A finishing as top three teams at team classification and Yurij Chekov from Kazakhstan, Valery Tityev from Kyrgyzstan and Hossein Askari from Zanjan were the three top riders at General Classification.
 

At the Eleventh Edition of Tour of Iran, Kazakhstan, Fajr Tabriz and Turkmenistan were the best teams at team classification and Sergej Belousov from Kazakhstan, Ahad Kazemi from Fajr Tabriz and Kosonov from Kazakhstan teams ranked top three at general classification.
The 12th edition of Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan) saw Kazakh riders dominating the race and at the end, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Fajr Tabriz and Andrey Mizurov, Valery Titiyov and Sergey Belousov all from Kazakhstan were introduced as top teams and riders of the tour respectively.
At the 13th Tour of Iran, at team classification, Fajr Tabriz, Kazakhstan and Iran A finished top three and Ahad Kazemi alongside with Ghader Mizbani both from Fajr Tabriz and Andrej Kashin from Kazakhstan were top three at general classification.
 

14th edition of Tour of Iran once again saw the championship of Fajr Tabriz team and East Azarbaijan and Syria teams became second and third at team classification. Ahad Kazemi from Fajr Tabriz, Hossein Askari from East Azarbaijan and Ghader Mizbani from Fajr Tabriz finished top three of the general classification.
At the 15th Tour of Iran, Ghader Mizbani were able to get his first overall win at the tour and Hossein Maleki and Ahad Kazemi finished second and third. Top three teams at team classification of this edition were East Azarbaijan, Markazi and Tehran respectively.
At the sixteenth edition of International Cycling Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan), East Azarbaijan, Kazakhstan and Zanjan teams ranked top three at team classification and Ahad Kazemi from East Azarbaijan, Hossein Askari from Zanjan and Vazgen Golijaniyan from Armenia ranked first to third at general classification respectively.
 

Turkey, Tabriz Petrochemical Team and Syria teams ranked top three teams of the 17th edition of Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan) and Ghader Mizbani, Iranian rider of Turkey team, Mert Mutlu from Turkey and Ahad Kazemi from Tabriz Petrochemical Team ranked first to three at general classification respectively.
The 18th edition of Tour of Iran finished with Iran A team crowning champion and Turkey and Tabriz Petrochemical team finishing second and third. Ahad Kazemi from TPT, Mehdi Sohrabi from Iran A and Pawel Novdak from Turkey finished first to third in general classification.
19th Tour of Iran saw Peykan Tehran team becoming champion and TPT and Kazakhstan teams finishing second and third. Alexey Kolossov from Kazakhstan, Mostafa Rezaei Khormizi from Kerman and Mert Mutlu from Turkey were top riders at general classification.
 
At 2005 UCI decided to create UCI Circuits at Continental level. International Cycling Tour of Azarbaijan officially registered to UCI ASIA calendar as 2.2 road race category.
 
At the 20th edition of Tour of Iran, Taiwan, Peykan and Syria were ranked as best teams at team classification and Ghader Mizbani Iranian rider from Taiwan, Ahad Kazemi from TPT and David McCann from Ireland became first to third riders at general classification.
Tabriz Petrochemical Team, Syria and Saudi Arabia teams ranked top three teams of the 21st edition of Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan) and Ghader Mizbani, Ahad Kazemi and Hossein Askari all from Tabriz Petrochemical Team (TPT) ranked first to three at general classification respectively.
At the 22nd Tour of Iran, at team classification, East Azarbaijan A, Markazi and East Azarbaijan B finished top three and Reshad Abbasov from Azarbaijan Republic alongside with Zeynal Nourizan from Malaysia and Farhad Mokhtari from East Azarbaijan were top three at general classification.

At the 23rd edition of Tour of Iran, TPT, Peykan and Uzbakistan were ranked as best teams at team classification and Hossein Askari and Ghader Mizbani both from TPT and Mehdi Sohrabi from Mes Kerman became first to third riders at general classification. The organizers alongside international changes at World sports decided to tie their connections with other countries than their neighbors, to deal with this new assignment they reengineered their own Structure and Updated it with assignments and tasks. New persons who were able to deal with new assignments took key positions.
At 24th Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan), Tabriz Petrochemical Team, Shahrdari Tabriz and Azad University were top teams of team classification and Ahad Kazemi, Hossein Askari and Ghader Mizbani finished first to third at general classification.
 
TPT dominated 25th edition of Tour of Iran with 30 minutes behind other teams and a total time of 64:23:18 they crowned champion. Azad University and Heraclion who was indeed first Spanish Team registered in Greece were ranked second and third.
Ghader Mizbani was the overall winner with a total time of 21:22:25 seconds in 6 stages of the tour.
Amir Zargari (Azad University) Hossein Askari of TPT ranked second and third in general classification.
At 26th Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan), Tabriz Petrochemical Team was able to crown champion for the fifth time and 4th consecutive year, NSP Germany and MTN South Africa team who had Daryl IMPEY - which joined pro teams same year – in rooster finished behind TPT as second and third on team classification.
On general classification, Mehdi Sohrabi, Hossein Askari and Ghader Mizbani, all from Tabriz Petrochemical Team were top three riders of the Tour.

27th Tour of Iran saw Tabriz crowning champions for the 5th consecutive year and for the sixth total to show that young riders of Tabriz are capable of beating their European rivals. Mehdi Sohrabi transferred to Beligian Pro Tour team Lotto Soudal for the first time in Iranian cycling History. Amir Zargari team leader of Islamic Azad University transferred to French Pro Team AG2R. Ghader Mizbani was left cycling for his Injury and Hossein Askari was not fit enough as before.
At this edition of Tour of Iran, which 104 riders from 14 foreign teams and 5 Iranian teams competed in 6 stages, Tabriz Petrochemical Team ranked first at team classification with a total time of 69 hours and 40 minutes and 56 seconds, Azad University and Andaluc?a Pro Continental team from Spain ranked second and third with a total time of 69 hours and 41 minutes and 45 second, and 69 hours and 42 minutes and 41 seconds respectively.
On the general classification of that year, Javier Ramirez from Andaluc?a Cycling crowned champion with a total time of 23 hours and 12 minutes and 41 seconds and Abbas Saeedi from Azad University finished second with a total time of 27 hours and 13 minutes and 24 seconds.
Amir Kolahdooz from TPT became King of Mountain and his teammate Hossein Nateghi won points classification with 24 points. Andaluc?a recorded as first pro continental Team at Tour history.
28th Tour of Iran saw participating of strong teams, but it was TPT again which dominated the tour and crowned champions for the eighth time.
On the general classification of 6 stages of tour covering 888 kilometers, Ghader Mizbani was the overall winner and Milan Kadlec from Dukla Praha and Amir Kolahdooz from Petroshimi Tabriz finished second and third.
On points classification, Alois Ka?kovsk? from Dukla Praha, Hamid Shiri from Shahrdari Urmia and Harif Saleh Muhammad from Terengano Malaysia ranked first to third, on Mountain Classification Ghader Mizbani crowned King of Mountain and Amir Kolahdooz from Tabriz and Vahid Ghaffari from Ayene Zamani ranked second and third. On best Asian Rider classification, Ghader Mizbani and Amir Kolahdooz from TPT and Hossein Alizadeh from Amor- e- Vita Ukraine were top three riders.
On team classification of 28th Tour of Iran, Tabriz crowned champions, Iran national team finished second and Dukla Praha of Czech Republic became third, Ayene Zamani of Tabriz, Algeria National Team, Uzbekistan National Team, Shahrdari Urumia, Brisa Spor of Turkey, Ayandeh, Azarbaijan National Team, Hong Kong National Team, Kazakhstan National Team, Amor-e- Vita Ukraine - Italy,  Iran Colonial team, Albania National Team, Syria National Team, CCN of Serbia and Terengano Malaysia finished fourth to eighteenth respectively.
29th Tour of Iran was the first overall win of Ghader Mizbani at tour after it was upgraded to UCI 2.1 category.
It was Ghader Mizbanis ninth yellow jersey win of Tour of Iran and it made his record even more inaccessible to other riders.
Mizbani won the yellow jersey at general classification with a total time of 25 hours and 32 minutes and 35 seconds. His teammate MirSamad Poorseyedi and Ramin Mehrabani Azar from Pishgaman finished second and third with total times of 25 hours and 33 minutes and 25 hours and 33 minutes and 18 seconds respectively. At team classification, Pishgaman crowned champions with 76 hours and 43 minutes and 44 seconds and TPT and KOLS Ukraine ranked second to third with 76:44:02 and 76:56:14 respectively.
At points classification, William Clarke from Drapac Australia won the green jersey with 23 points, Hamid Shiri from TPT and Fabian Schnaidt from Team Vorarlberg finished second and third with 16 and 11 points respectively. King of Mountain jersey of this tour was given to Rahim Emami from Pishgaman with 78 points, Mirsamad Poorseyedi and Ghader Mizbani both from TPT ranked second and third with 71 and 50 points respectively. Ghader Mizbani, Mirsamad Poorseyedi and Ramin Mehrabani were top three riders at Best Asian Rider classification.
At 30th edition of Tour of Iran, Mirsamad Poorseyedi from Tabriz was crowned champion and Rahim Emami and Ramin Mehrabani, Tabrizi riders of Pishgaman Yazd team finished the stages as second and third.
Top three teams of team classification at 30th Tour of Iran were Tabriz Petrochemical Team (TPT), Pishgaman and Shahrdari Tabriz.
At 31st Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan), Shahrdari Tabriz team crowned champions with a total time of 72 hours and 20 minutes and 7 seconds, Pishgaman Kavir Yazd and Vino4Ever of Kazakhstan ranked second and third best teams with total times of 72:35:38 and 72:47:38 respectively.
Mirsamad Poorseyedi was the overall winner of the tour after the 6 stages.
32nd edition of Tour of Iran will start at October 8th and riders will race the 6 stages of the tour to wear the yellow, green, KOM and white jerseys this year.

Year	First place	Second place	Third place
Tour of Azarbaijan
1986	Mohammad Reza Bajool (IRN)	Davoud Zeynali (IRN)	Abdolqasem Rahmaniyan (IRN)
1987	Mohammad Reza Bajool (IRN)	Hassan Milani (IRN)	Ahad Pourniyazi (IRN)
1988	Mohammad Reza Bajool (IRN)	Akbar Amjadi (IRN)	Mehran Safarzadeh (IRN)
1989	Hossein Mahmoudi (IRN)	Mostafa Chaychi (IRN)	Alireza Zangiabadi (IRN)
1990	Hossein Mahmoudi (IRN)	Abas Ismaili (IRN)	Alireza Zangiabadi (IRN)
1991	Tamer Avral (TUR)	Ayhan Aytakin (TUR)	Jamal Sheykhooni (SYR)
1992	Hassan Sharifzadeh (IRN)	Khosrow Qamari (IRN)	Hussain Eslami (IRN)
1993	Kasta Kolov (TKM)	Majid Vafaei (IRN)	Azari (IRN)
1994	Dmitrij Katmakov (TKM)	Majid Sheyk (SYR)	Manis Shabloni (ARM)
1995	Yurij Chekov (KAZ)	Valery Tityev (KGZ)	Hossein Askari (IRN)
1996	Sergej Belousov (KAZ)	Ahad Kazemi (IRN)	Kosonov (KAZ)
1997	Andrey Mizurov (KAZ)	Valery Titiyov (KAZ)	Sergej Belousov (KAZ)
1998	Ahad Kazemi (IRN)	Ghader Mizbani (IRN)	Andrej Kashin (KAZ)
1999	Ahad Kazemi (IRN)	Hossein Askari (IRN)	Ghader Mizbani (IRN)
2000	Ghader Mizbani (IRN)	Hossein Maleki (IRN)	Ahad Kazemi (IRN)
2001	Ahad Kazemi (IRN)	Hossein Askari (IRN)	Vazgen Golijaniyan (ARM)
2002	Ghader Mizbani (IRN)	Mert Mutlu (TUR)	Ahad Kazemi (IRN)
2003	Ahad Kazemi (IRN)	Mehdi Sohrabi (IRN)	Pawel Novdak (TUR)
2004	Alexey Kolessov (KAZ)	Mostafa Rezaei Khormizi (IRN)	Mert Mutlu (TUR)
2005	Ghader Mizbani (IRN)	Ahad Kazemi (IRN)	Omar Hasanein (SYR)
2006	Ghader Mizbani (IRN)	Ahad Kazemi (IRN)	Mostafa Rezaei Khormizi (IRN)
2007	Hossein Askari (IRN)	Ghader Mizbani (IRN)	Rahim Ememi (IRN)
2008	Hossein Askari (IRN)	Ghader Mizbani (IRN)	Ahad Kazemi (IRN)
2009	Ahad Kazemi (IRN)	Hossein Askari (IRN)	Ghader Mizbani (IRN)
2010	Ghader Mizbani (IRN)	Amir Zargari (IRN)	Hossein Askari (IRN)
2011	Mehdi Sohrabi (IRN)	Hossein Askari (IRN)	Ghader Mizbani (IRN)
2012	Javier Ram?rez (ESP)	Abbas Saedi Tanha (IRN)	Hossein Askari (IRN)
Tour of Iran (Azarbaijan)
2013	Ghader Mizbani (IRN)	Milan Kadlec (CZE)	Amir Kolahdozhagh (IRN)
2014	Ghader Mizbani (IRN)	Samad Pourseyedi (IRN)	Ramin Mehrabani (IRN)
2015	Samad Pourseyedi (IRN)	Rahim Ememi (IRN)	Ramin Mehrabani (IRN)
2016	Samad Pourseyedi (IRN)	Ahad Kazemi (IRN)	Rahim Ememi (IRN)

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