Nguyen Thi That won spectacularly in Thailand

Without much preparation time, cyclist Nguyen Thi That still won stage 1 of the Tour of Thailand 2024 at noon on April 8.

Nguyen Thi That (red shirt) celebrates after winning stage one of the Tour of Thailand on the morning of April 8. Photo: TCA — Nguyen Thi That (red shirt) celebrates after winning stage one of the Tour of Thailand on the morning of April 8. Photo: *TCA*

Nguyen Thi That won the 2023 Asian Championship in Thailand, thereby becoming the first Vietnamese athlete to win a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Therefore, she skipped some domestic races to go abroad to train and compete.

On April 6, Nguyen Thi That finished the Roubix race in Paris, then left for Thailand the next day to participate in the Tour of Thailand. After many long flights, at 1:30 this morning, the cyclist from An Giang arrived in Phitsanulok province, in southern Thailand, to join the Vietnamese women's cycling team. After a few hours of rest, at 7:00, Nguyen Thi That had to wake up at the starting line for the first stage of the Tour of Thailand at 9:00.

The Tour of Thailand 2024 has three stages taking place from April 8-10. Vietnam has two participating teams, including the Vietnamese team with Nguyen Thi That, Nguyen Thi Thi, Nguyen Thi Thu Mai, Tran Thi Thuy Trang and Lam Thi Kim Ngan and the Biwase Binh Duong women's cycling team with Bui Thi Quynh, Le Thi Huyen, Quach Thi Phuong Thanh, Tran Thi Thuy Van, Tran Huynh Anh Van. The first stage route from Phitsanulok province to Sukhothai is 112.7 km long.

Despite not being in the best physical condition, Nguyen Thi That, with the support of her teammates, was always present in the front group. In the last 20 km, the Kazakhstan and Malaysian teams continuously attacked to separate the group, but could not shake off the persistent Vietnamese riders.

2 km from the finish line, the host Thai team pushed the speed to bring the main racer Jutatip back to compete for the sprint. But the Vietnamese team reacted very quickly. Nguyen Thi Thi also accelerated to overtake, to break the opponent's strength, and then at 500m from the finish line, Nguyen Thi That used all her strength, pressed the pedal to pass all the opponents to finish about 10 meters ahead of Jutatip, winning the stage. Finishing third was Australian racer Claudia Marcks.

Nguyen Thi That finished about three car lengths faster than Jutatip. Screenshot — Nguyen Thi That finished about three car lengths faster than Jutatip. *Screenshot*

"I arrived in Thailand just a few hours before the race. The very hot weather in Thailand was also my biggest obstacle. But thanks to the help of my teammates, I succeeded and won the stage," Nguyen Thi That said after finishing.

After stage one, Nguyen Thi That wore both the Yellow and Green Jerseys. Tomorrow, April 9, she and her teammates will race stage two around Sukhothai Historica Park, a 95.5 km race.

Duc Dong

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