Excited for the bicycle race to conquer the highest viaduct in Vietnam

The cycling race to celebrate 120 years of Sa Pa tourism "Conquering Mong Sen, the overpass with the highest pillar in Vietnam - LCC7" organized by the People's Committee of Sa Pa town is scheduled to take place on July 23.

Participating in the tournament, athletes will conquer a 13 km long race track. The race track is 80% pure climbing (up hill). This is a BOT route connecting Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway to Sa Pa (starting from the beginning of the BOT road in Lao Cai city; the finish line is on Mong Sen bridge in Sa Pa town, Lao Cai province). Mong Sen bridge (in Sa Pa town, Lao Cai province), is an overland bridge with a 83m high bridge pillar, which is of "key" significance in the construction of the route connecting Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway to Sa Pa National Tourist Area, reducing traffic pressure on the main route of National Highway 4D.

Mong Sen Bridge has a total investment of nearly 500 billion VND. Construction started in early 2020 and has now been basically completed, reaching 99% of the work volume. This is a 612m long overpass, connecting the foot of the slope to the top of the three-level slope - the most difficult, winding and dangerous section of the road from Lao Cai city to Sa Pa town. The bridge is built of reinforced concrete, with a 14m wide surface with 4 lanes, 5 continuous spans, of which the longest span is 132m, constructed using the balanced cantilever box girder method. Once completed, this route will facilitate travel and trade, contributing to promoting the socio -economic development of Lao Cai province and the Northwest region.

Because it spans the valley and is nearly 100m high, the Mong Sen bridge construction site is often covered in clouds, making the bridge seem to penetrate the clouds. Standing on the bridge, you can see beautiful terraced fields in many directions. This highest overpass in Vietnam has a "key" meaning in the construction of the route connecting Noi Bai - Lao Cai highway to Sa Pa National Tourist Area.

The cycling race will be individual and team competitions with the following categories: young women under 40 years old; middle-aged women over 41 years old; young men under 40 years old; middle-aged men from 41 to 50 years old and senior men over 51 years old. The competition format is MTB mountain bike.

Athletes participating in the tournament are Vietnamese and foreigners living, studying, working, and traveling legally in Vietnam, in good health, and voluntarily registering to participate. Athletes currently competing professionally in domestic and foreign cycling competitions, professional cyclists who have retired for less than 36 months (less than 3 years), and athletes who are training for cycling talent who are employed at concentrated sports training centers of the province, industry, or enterprise are not eligible to register to compete.

Each club/group/team participating in the tournament can register an unlimited number of athletes to compete individually in each event, however, they can only register 1 team with 5 athletes in each event. Athletes have the right to register to lower their age to compete in an age bracket lower than their actual age.

In the end, in the individual event: The Organizing Committee will rank individuals in order of finishing each event; if each individual event does not have enough 20 athletes participating in the actual competition at the start, the Organizing Committee will arrange the registered athletes to compete in the next lower age group individually or not organize the competition (when there is no next lower age group) or organize the competition but not count the results.

In team events: The actual starting team must have 5/5 pre-registered athletes to be considered for team results; team results are calculated based on the total individual rankings of the first 3 valid athletes to finish. If the total rankings are equal, the team with the athlete with the higher individual ranking will win...

Athletes participating in the tournament pay a fee of 200,000 VND/athlete. Individuals and groups participating in the tournament pay their own travel and accommodation expenses during the tournament. Contact point for direct registration and fee payment: Mr. Nguyen Quang Luu - General Secretary of LCC, phone number: 0962.796.479; Contact point for online registration and fee payment: Visit website: xedaplaocai.com. For details, contact Mr. Nguyen Trung Cuong - Chairman of LCC, phone number 0948.040.040. Or Mr. Nguyen Cao Cao Cuong - Sa Pa Town Culture, Sports and Communications Center, phone number: 0845.256.789. Email: [email protected] .

The cycling race to celebrate 120 years of Sa Pa tourism "Conquering Mong Sen, the overpass with the highest pillar in Vietnam - LCC7" is one of the outstanding activities to celebrate the 120th anniversary of Sa Pa tourism (1903 - 2023). In addition to promoting the movement of physical exercise and sports, the cycling race held in Sa Pa also has a profound humanistic meaning of solidarity, team spirit, community responsibility combined with activities to promote Sa Pa culture, history, and tourism on each stage of the race./.

Quynh Lien