LookAtVietnam – New riders were adorned with yellow jerseys after the fifth stage of the Return to Dien Bien Phu Cycling Tournament yesterday.

Orchibaatar Tumurbaatar. (Photo: VNN)

Lien saved her energy over the course of the stage which witnessed other cyclists competing strongly for green jersey points.

Her tactics worked well. Although she did not score many points, she pedalled with power to the finish line without any close challengers.

Her time was fast enough to steal the yellow jersey from Hoa Binh’s Dinh Thi Nhu Quynh, who did not place in yesterday’s top three, reducing her overall ranking to third.

Second place overall went to Azian Alias of Malaysia, who also came in second in the stage. Her ranking was key for keeping her team on top of the team rankings with a total combined time of 22:26.21.

They are followed by Binh Duong Water Supply and Domesco Dong Thap.

On the men’s side, riders had to complete a 63km race from Son La City to Pha Din Pass.

All Vietnamese riders, including Mai Cong Hieu of Domesco, Dong Thap, Trinh Phat Dat from An Giang Plant Protection and Mai Nguyen Hung of Sai Gon 1 Plant Protection, failed to meet expectations even though mountain terrain is normally their strength.

There were no successful attacks, keeping the entire pack of racers together in the climb over Pha Din Pass. Orchibaatar Tumurbaatar of Mongolia managed an escape just as the racers were reaching the peak. He took the stage with a time of 1:56.07. His teammate Khangarid Naran and Phat Dat came second and third, respectively about a minute and a half later.

The outstanding performance pushed Tumurbaatar to the top of the overall ranking with total time of 10:44.01. Naran closed in with one second more. Phat Dat was third with 10:45.39.

The Mongolian team overthrew Sai Gon 1 to lead the overall race. They created a four-minute gap runner-up Domesco Dong Thap.

The visitors also had the chance to celebrate with Naran leading the ’King of the Mountain’ race for the red jersey.

The competition will conclude today with a women’s 42km race from Muong Ang and a men’s 80km race from Tuan Giao, both to Dien Bien.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News