Iran NCs - a small event to search the nation's best cyclists on road and against the clock.. 154km hilly road race and a flat timetrial.
Top-favorites for the road race should be Alizadeh (Sauber) and Khalilikhosroshani (Air Kenya), while local team PFG-Armavia (Sohrabi) hopes for their only rider to shine, too. 7 riders in total should definitely make for a... special event.
The riders sit up for the first 50km, so nothing happened with now 100km remaining.. finally, a move:
Sohrabi (PFG) attacks the group! So he's obviously aiming for something special!
And.. well... call it whatever you want, but it's kind of special: Sohrabi easily takes out the Iranian road race!
The 6 other riders refused to do anything and preferred to enjoy the landscape or whatever.. 5 hours of "racing" and they do not even finish it. Congrats to those, who followed til the end.
At least the 40km timetrial (featuring some difficulties) promises a more interesting battle: two riders could be well head-to-head, so let's get right into the action..
It's the second split and only a few km to go.. and yes, we will see a thrilling battle for the TT-honours!
Khalikikhosroshani and Gilanipoor crossed the split with almost the same time, with the first being less than a second in front..
Gilanipoor (Heineken) is the first of those two to reach the finish.. new BT - 1h02'35".. we do expect a similar time from the last rider on the road..
Khalilikhosroshani (Kenya) probably knows the split times and keeps pulling the strings.. will he succeed?
It's kind of a photo-finish! He crosses the line with the same time as Gilanpoor..
..who's the crowned Iranian TT-champion 2013! By the smallest margin of less than a second, Gilanpoor managed to fight back from the smallest margin of less than a second to take the victory!
Timetrial title/
Abolfazl Gilanpoor (Heineken p/b California Giant Berry Farms)
Iran NCs - a small event to search the nation's best cyclists on road and against the clock.. 154km hilly road race and a flat timetrial.
