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The joy of winning the stage of two An Giang racers. (Photo: SGGP) |
After many days of efforts to attack An Giang's dominance, HCMC has finally succeeded in overtaking the Orange Jersey and, at the same time, narrowed the time gap with their teammates in Stage 14 of the HTV Cup 2023 cycling tournament, which took place this morning.
Stage 14, which runs from Nha Trang to Phan Rang, was expected to be a thrilling stage as riders would have to conquer the Vinh Hy Pass with numerous steep slopes.
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| The scene of Stage 14 of the HTV Cup 2023 bicycle race. (Photo: SGGP) |
Similar to previous races featuring mountain passes, foreign racers continue to dominate due to their superior physical strength and skill level compared to their domestic counterparts. Despite several unsuccessful attempts to break away, Coach Do Thanh Dat's team continued to push forward as soon as they reached the base of the Vinh Hy Pass.
Intending to launch a full-scale attack, two foreign riders from Ho Chi Minh City, Igor Frolov (HCMC Vinama) and Vladislav Duininov (HCM City New Group), accelerated on the slopes, leaving 9 out of 10 cyclists behind, including those who had previously excelled on Vietnamese passes and had worn the Yellow Jersey in the HTV Cup – Loic (Domesco Dong Thap). Only other foreign racers, such as Roman Maikin (Hat Ngoc Troi An Giang), Petr Rikunov (Loc Troi Group) in the Yellow Jersey, Javier (Binh Minh Binh Duong Plastic), and Baasankhuu (Dong Nai), were able to keep up.
In previous pass stages, no domestic riders could keep up with the foreign riders on the passes. However, today, four local riders, including Nguyen Thang (HCMC Vinama), Nguyen Hoang Sang, Nguyen Pham Quoc Khang (Dong Nai), and Pham Xuan Loc (Military Zone 7) in the White Jersey, were still able to maintain the pace of Group 1. This is a positive development for Vietnamese cycling. Racer Igor Frolov continued to calmly reach the top of the first pass to secure the title of King of the Mountains, amid the sportsmanship of his direct opponent Petr Rikunov.
Because the racer holding the Orange Jersey, Tang Quy Trong (Loc Troi Group), fell back to Group 2, while Nguyen Thang was trailing by more than 55 seconds in Group 1, the HCMC riders joined forces with the Dong Nai team. In addition to the goal of capturing the Orange Jersey, HCMC also aimed to narrow the team gap with An Giang, as it had one more rider in the top group.
It is evident from these developments that both An Giang and Domesco Dong Thap teams were at a disadvantage without any racer in the leading group. They combined their forces and accelerated in Group 2, creating an exciting pursuit of the first group. However, in Group 1, the gap gradually increased to 1 minute and 43 seconds at the finish line due to the strength of several foreign riders.
With his strength and being less active in the front group, racer Roman Maikin (Hat Ngoc Troi) passed Petr Rikunov (Loc Troi Group) and Nguyen Pham Quoc Khang (Dong Nai) to win the stage.
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| Nguyen Thang wins the Orange Jersey in Stage 14 of the HTV Cup 2023. (Photo: SGGP) |
Despite not achieving good results in the first three rankings, it was a very successful day for the HCMC racing team. Not only did Igor Frolov widen the gap in the Red Jersey competition, but they also surpassed An Giang to take the Orange Jersey for the best Vietnamese racer, thanks to Nguyen Thang in the leading group. Additionally, although Loc Troi Group remained at the top of the team rankings after 13 stages, HCMC Vinama narrowed the team gap from 3 minutes and 5 seconds to 1 minute and 24 seconds. With this close gap, the team battle in the upcoming stages is still expected to be exciting.
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| Petr Rikunov continues to wear the Yellow Jersey after 14 stages. (Photo: SGGP) |
Nguyen Thang was not the only one who performed well, racer Pham Le Xuan Loc also did a great job protecting the White Jersey and increased the distance with his opponent Le Hai Dang to 8 minutes and 10 seconds. Meanwhile, Petr Rikunov (Loc Troi Group), who finished second in this stage, continued holding onto both the Yellow and the Green jerseys after 14 stages of the tournament.
Tomorrow, Stage 15 of the HTV Cup 2023 bicycle race will run from Phan Rang to Da Lat, covering a distance of 126 km. This is considered to be the most important race remaining in this year's route, as the riders will conquer the challenging Ngoan Muc and Mimosa passes.
