The Ho Chi Minh City-Vinama team has signed Russian cyclist Konstantin Nekrasov and will have him compete as a replacement for their injured Spaniard Javier Sardá Pérez at the annual Ho Chi Minh City TV (HTV) Cup cycling tournament, which will commence next week.

The club’s coach Do Thanh Dat confirmed on Friday the recruitment, which was achieved after a swift negotiation process.

Konstantin Nekrasov, 22, used to play for the famous Russian youth team RusVelo. 

The racer was the defending champion in the individual time trial of the National Championships Russia U23 and attended the European Continental Championships U23 in 2021.

He is scheduled to arrive in Hanoi on Saturday.

With this addition, the Ho Chi Minh City-Vinama team will have two Russian cyclists, Konstantin Nekrasov and Igor Frolov, who just joined the team last month, compete at the upcoming 2022 HTV Cup.

Russian cyclist Konstantin Nekrasov. Photo: Facebook

The addition also helps the club remain as one of the candidates for the most prestigious yellow jersey of the cup, alongside An Giang, with two foreign bikers Roman Maikin and Ali Khademi, Dong Thap, with reigning champion Loic Desriac, and Dong Nai, with two Mongolian racers Baasankhuu Myagmarsuren and Erdenebat Bilguujargal.

The Ho Chi Minh City Federation of Bicycle and Motorbike Sport started finding a substitute for Ho Chi Minh City-Vinama’s Javier Sardá Pérez after the Spaniard cyclist, who won the 2019-20 HTV Cup editions, suffered broken bones and ligaments during a training session on March 28.

Despite his successful surgery shortly after, Pérez cannot made a full recovery before the tournament, which will kick off in the northern province of Quang Ninh on April 5.

The HTV Cup tourney has been held annually since 1989 and is considered the Vietnamese version of ‘Tour de France’ as it takes about 100 cyclists through multiple stages from north to south in celebration of the Southeast Asian country’s reunification on April 30, 1975.

This year, the tourney will cover 2,316.2 kilometers in 23 stages, taking place from April 5 to 30, the HTV announced on March 23.

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