Young cyclist Tran Van Quyen recorded his first major stage race success yesterday when he won the third stage of the National HCM City Television Cup race, . . .

Young cyclist Tran Van Quyen recorded his first major stage race success yesterday, April 12, when he won the third stage of the National HCM City Television Cup race, a 139km ride from Thanh Hoa to Vinh City in Nghe An Province.

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Tran Van Quyen recorded his first major stage race success yesterday. (Photo: Thanh Nien)

Vinh Long Television team’s Bui Minh Thuy held on to the yellow jersey.

Army team member Quyen beat Tuguldur Tuulkhangai of Mongolia and Mai Nguyen Hung from Sai Gon Plant Protection 1 in a sprint finish.

He spent 3hr 12.40min with an average speed of 43.443km per hour for the race that saw a number of attacks and almost failed to break away from the chasing pack.

The good surface and short distance, combined with nice weather presented favourable conditions for all racers, with everyone clocking good speeds from the start. Rivals from Domesco Dong Thap 2, Sai Gon Plant Protection 2 and the Army rotated attacks, attempting to escape from the peloton.

Breakaways proved successful for a few kilometres before caught at the 40km mark. It was also when six racers from different teams broke to the front. They established a two-minute gap from the peloton, a gap that looked set to remain until the finishing line. However, 30km later they were again joined by the other competitors who were led by Quyen, Hung and Tuulkhangai.

After the front three, all the other cyclists in the lead group came in at the same time, causing little change in the overall ranking after three stages.

Thuy maintains the lead with a total time of 7:49.13, Tuulkhangai follows 2sec behind while Quyen is in third place, on 7:49.33, thanks to his great performance yesterday.

With Thuy leading the singles race, his team, Vinh Long Television, ranks first with an overall time of 23:28.59. Mongolia and Sai Gon Plant Protection 1 stand second and third respectively.

Thuy will wear the yellow jersey when he starts the fourth stage today, running 190km from Vinh to Quang Binh Province’s Dong Hoi Town.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News