Ismayilli, May 8, AZERTAC

Primoz Roglic soloed in to victory on the queen stage of the Tour d’Azerbaidjan, claiming the second consecutive stage win for his Adria Mobil team. Second place went to Matej Mugerli (Synergy Baku Cycling Project) and third to Christopher Horner (Airgas-Safeway).

Roglic, who won this same stage in 2014, had been part of a break group which formed just before the first of three climbs on this second stage.The group eventually went from 16 riders to two, with Roglic dropping Mugerli on the final climb, ranked Cat. 1.

The Slovenian also won the mountain jersey, although he was tied on points with Alexander Surutkovych (Synergy Baku Cycling Project), who won the two earlier Cat. 2 climbs. The sprint jersey went to Maksym Averin (Baku Cycling Project), who won today's two intermediate sprints.

It was another overcast day, as the peloton left from the VeloPark in Baku and took off on the 187 kilometer Queen Stage to Ismayilli. There were multiple attempts to form break groups, but none of the early ones was successful.

The first intermediate sprint was dominated by the Synergy Baku Cycling Project, with the points going to their Maksym Averin and Alex Surutkovych, followed by Frantisek Sisr (Team Dukia Praha).

Shortly thereafter the day’s break group finally formed, a large one of 16 riders, including Chris Horner (Airgas-Safeway). The first ranked climb followed soon, with the first over being Synergy Baku’s Surutkovych. He repeated that feat at the second climb, also cat. 2.

The hard course took its toll and both the peloton and the lead group had shredded. With 35 km to go, Matej Mugerli (Synergy Baku) and Primoz Roglic (Adria Mobil) were alone in front, with Roglic eventually shedding his rival. Mugerli fell back into a chase group with Horner and Jasper Ockeloen (Parkhotel Valkenburg CT).

Roglic just kept pulling away, also claiming the last mountain title for himself. He finally sailed over the cobbled streets of Ismayilli to take the win.