The Ho Chi Minh City Television Cup cycling race across Vietnam started with 25 laps around Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi on Sunday.
The race included 98 cyclists from 14 domestic teams who will compete in 25 races with a total distance of 2,964 kilometers.
Russian Igor Frolov (number 7) was the Yellow Jersey (winner) of the 2022 competition. Experts predict he’ll face difficulties in defending his title against newcomer Petr Rikunov, a former Russia national cyclist who joined the An Giang team this year.
With Frolov at the top, the speed of the race was increased.
Mai Nguyen Hung, a former Vietnam national cyclist and a commentator for the competition, said that this year's race will be very unpredictable.
"An Giang is strengthened with a foreign cyclist, while Ho Chi Minh City doesn’t have the participation of its main cyclist, Le Nguyet Minh,” Hung told VnExpress. He added that the race is quite long, and that he believes “there will be many interesting results after each stage.”
When the race had four laps left, Frolov’s bicycle broke and a motorbike had to take it to a repair point. He rejoined the race afterwards but fell far behind and was unable to return to the lead.
Rikunov’s team took advantage of the opportunity and put him in a favorable position to finish first. The next two finishers were Pham Le Xuan Loc and Roman Maikin.
The duration of the first stage is 53 minutes 47 seconds with an average speed of 47.412 kph.
"It was raining and mud was on the road, but we were still determined to move forward and no one gave up," said Dong Thap racer Phan Hoang Thai, who had to wash the mud off his face. “We are used to challenges like this.”
The 18-year-old cyclist Pham Le Xuan Loc won the Blue Jersey for finishing second and the White Jersey as best young cyclist. He also won the Orange Jersey, which is awarded to the most impressive Vietnamese cyclist in each stage.
Rikunov won the Yellow Jersey for this stage. He only came to Vietnam two days before the tournament.
"I’m very happy and impressed with the competition and the people here,” the 25-year-old cyclist said. “There will certainly be many difficult and interesting things waiting for us ahead."
On April 3, the second stage from Hanoi to Thanh Hoa begins with a distance of 114 km.
