XDS Astana Team rider finishes 2nd overall in Azerbaijan

The winner of the final stage and the overall classification was New Zealander Josh Burnett, who launched a solo attack on the final climb of the stage. Henok Mulubrhan won the sprint from the chasing group, which finished 12 seconds behind the winner. In the end, only three seconds separated first and second place in the overall standings.

“We knew the stage would be very difficult, but we were determined to fight for victory. On the final climb, I was the only rider left in the chasing group, and it was not easy to organize the pursuit of the leader. Then Aaron Gate bridged across to us and gave incredible support in the final kilometers. I’m very grateful for his help. Unfortunately, Yevgeniy Fedorov crashed on the descent and lost a lot of time. I think if he had made it back to the group, things could have turned out differently. At the finish, we did everything we could. After Aaron Gate’s lead-out, I launched the sprint and won it from the group, but it was not enough to take the overall victory. We were just three seconds short, but that’s cycling – congratulations to the winner. Overall, we had a very good week in Azerbaijan. The whole team worked like a perfectly coordinated machine, and the young riders from the continental team – Alisher Zhumakan and Ramis Dinmukhametov – were outstanding, doing an amazing job every day. We won two stages, finished second three times, took second place overall, and won the green jersey of the points classification. Of course, we wanted more, but we can still be satisfied with this week,” said Henok Mulubrhan.

Race leader Yevgeniy Fedorov unfortunately crashed on the final descent and was unable to defend his lead. In the end, Fedorov finished 20th, 1 minute and 24 seconds down.

Henok Mulubrhan won the points classification of the race.

As previously reported, Stage 4 of the Baku–Khankendi race culminated in a reduced bunch sprint, where XDS Astana Team’s Henok Mulubrhan secured a strong second place.