AGAINST THE LONG SLOPE OF THE ROUTE 
Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Stage 3: 128.3 km.
Route: Jolfa-Marand-Sophian-Shabestar
East Azerbaijan Province, Iran

The third stage of the tour was the most difficult stage of the tour. Jolfa lies in the lowest altitude in Azerbaijan and Shabstar is a city at a high altitude. Shabestar is a city on the South sides of the Mishow Mountain. The route of 128.3 km from Jolfa to Shabestar was all uphill. The slope of the road between Jolfa and Marand was very steep. For this reason, the peloton was divided into eight groups at the 60th kilometer of the race, and the speed of the cyclists was very low. The 8 groups were dispersed into small groups now and then. After passing through the Marand Bypass Highway and on the way from Yam village to Sophian, the slope was relatively mild and the groups were getting closer to form up the peloton. In the city of Sophian, a large crowd stood on two sides of the streets to watch and cheer the cyclists. At the exit of Sophian, students of a primary school were throwing wild flower branches at the cyclists, cheering them.
The road from Sophian to Shabestar was somewhat flat and the half-dispersed peloton was moving at a good speed. In Shabestar, more than ten thousand people were standing on both sides of the track and cheering the bikers. The reception of the people of Shabestar for the 36th tour was unprecedented. People had closed their shops and were waiting for the group of cyclists on the sides of the street. The city had a festive atmosphere. As each cyclist passed, the cheering of the people increased the cyclists speed. Finally the hardest stage finished and the following results were gained:

STAGE 3 INDIVIDUAL CLASSIFICATION
SAINBAYAR Jambaljamts (25, TSG, MGL)
BOUGLAS Georgios (71, MTR, GRE)
MARUKHIN Daniil (112, VSM, KAZ)

STAGE BEST YOUNG RIDERs:
DARZI RAMANDI Mohammad (125, ICP, IRI)
ABDULLAH Sulaiman Wehbi (142, IRQ, IRQ)
REMKHI Rudolf (13, ALT, KAZ)

STAGE TEAM CLASSIFICATION
TERENGGANU POLYGON CYCLING TEAM
ROOJAI ONLINE INSURANCE
MATRIX POWERTAG

INDIVIDUAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION BY TIME   (YELLOW JERSEY)
CARSTENSEN Lucas (62, ROJ, GER)

The average speed of the tour in the third stage was 38 km/h. The cyclists and the officials of the TOUR went to Tabriz by buses already provided for them to spend the night in the grand Tabriz Hotel. The 4th stage of the tour will start at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, August 30, to head for Sare’in, a town nationally popular for the pools of Hot Mineral Water. Sare’in lies on the southern slopes of Sabalan, the second highest mountain in Iran.