Boris Shpilevskiy and Markus Eibegger have joined Tabriz Petrochemical. The former Footon - Servetto riders complete a foreign trio, with Tobias Erler (pictured) heading into his second season with the Iranian Continental team.
Erler has enjoyed his season in the unlikely environment for a professional rider thus far. "I really appreciated this year and I am very satisfied that I can ride another season with my Iranian friends," he told French Cyclismag.
Erler will now get another German speaking rider to his side with Eibegger. The Austrian turned professional with Elk Haus-Simplon in 2007, then moved to the Footon - Servetto ProTour outfit in 2010. The former Austrian champion now steps back to the Continental level and also rides a very different program, focused on the Asia Tour.
Eibegger has already some experience in Asia, as he finished sixth in the 2010 Tour de Langkawi. In Europe, one of his best results was the fifth place in the 2009 Tour of Bavaria.
Shpilevskiy was part of the Katusha Continental Team until August, but has been without team since. The Russian was with Footon - Servetto until June 2009, where he won four stages in the Tour of Hainan, in China. This also means that Shpilevskiy has experience in Asian racing.
This year, Shpilevskiy won three stages in the Tour du Maroc and two stages in the Tour of Qinghai Lake. He had a further four podium finishes in Qinghai Lake and was 12th in the Russian time trial championships. He also won two stages in the Five rings of Moscow race.
His best season was in 2008, when he rode for Italian squad Preti Mangimi - Prisma Stufe. He won a stage in the Tour of Belgium, took the Tour of Hainan overall and was fourth in the Russian Championships time trial, behind Vladimir Gusev, Timofey Kritskiy and Vladimir Karpets. He was sixth in the road race (won by Serguei Ivanov).
In 2010, Erler was second in the Presidential Tour of Iran, after winning stage two and three and carrying the leader's jersey for two days. Erler was also having a great Tour de Langkawi, leading the race from stage two to five. He lost too much time in the only mountain stage, the infamous Genting Highlands trek, over 102.8 kilometers. He was a solid sixth in the final stage seven.
Tabriz Petrochemical is the number one team on the Asian continent. Three of its riders occupied the first three places in the 2010 Asia Tour: Mahdi Sohrabi, Hossein Askari and Ghader Mizbani Iranagh.
Askari won the Tour of Qinghai Lake overall this year, as well as the President Tour of Iran. He is also the 2010 time trial champion of Iran. Iranagh won the Azerbaïjan Tour and the Tour of Singkarak.