On April 14, the 35th Ho Chi Minh City Television Cup National Cycling Race - 2023 "Non Song Lien Mot Dai - Niem Tin Chien Thang" HTV - Ton Dong A took place in stage 11, 166 km long, from Quy Nhon City (Binh Dinh) to Pleiku City ( Gia Lai ) with absolute victory belonging to Yellow Jersey Petr Rikunov.
With two passes, An Khe and Mang Yang, and many steep, bumpy roads, this is considered a route for riders with the ability to climb passes to demonstrate their abilities, especially domestic players.
Igor Frolov (red dot jersey) finished second on An Khe pass
It is not surprising that in the group that split off to attack are foreign players who have shown their ability in previous stages: red jersey Igor Frolov (TP HCM Vinama), yellow jersey Petr Rikunov (Tap Loc Troi), Javier Perez (Nhua Binh Minh - Binh Duong ), Loic Desriac (Duoc Domesco Dong Thap), Vladislav Duiunov (TP HCM New Group).
Effective tactical coordination helped the Ho Chi Minh City team maintain the title of red dot jersey - king of the mountains for Igor Frolov when he finished second on An Khe pass after Vladislav Duiunov and first on Mang Yang pass.
It is also important to note that although racer Petr Rikunov has the ability to compete for the title of King of the Mountains, he is focused on the bigger goal of defending the prestigious yellow jersey, so he actively pursues rather than competes on the two mountain peaks.
After crossing An Khe Pass, Igor Frolov took the initiative to attack, Petr Rikunov still followed closely. Both riders separated from the remaining group of 3 foreign riders, Javier Perez, Vladislav Duiunov, Loic Desriac to conquer Mang Yang Pass (climbing 3 km) and headed towards the finish line.
The gap between Igor Frolov and Petr Rikunov compared to the second group was more than 5 minutes and at the same time, he left the scattered groups behind, including the green jersey competitor Tran Tuan Kiet, more than 10 minutes behind. Not having the ability to climb hills well, Tran Tuan Kiet had to give up in this stage of the race and was unfortunately eliminated from the race for the overall green jersey title.
Unfortunately for Igor Frolov, he suffered a flat tire 4km from the finish line, but he still managed to finish second, his main rival and compatriot, Petr Rikunov, finished alone, winning the stage after 4 hours 10 minutes 15 seconds of competition (average speed 38.841 km/h), successfully defending the prestigious Yellow Jersey and the Green Jersey, creating a gap of up to 3 minutes 58 seconds over the second-placed racer Igor Frolov. He also helped the Loc Troi Group team maintain the first place in the team with a gap of 3 minutes 05 seconds over the second-placed team TP HCM Vinama.
Petr Rikunov finished alone, successfully defending the prestigious Yellow Jersey and the Green Jersey
On April 15, the racers competed in stage 12 from Pleiku City (Gia Lai) to Buon Ma Thuot City ( Dak Lak ) with a planned race route of 179 km.
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