A problem with Roman Maikin’s saddle prevented the Russian rider from showing his best in the sprint to the finish on the seventh day of the 2022 Ho Chi Minh City TV (HTV) Cup tournament on Monday.

The seventh stage, covering 154 kilometers from Hanoi to north-central Thanh Hoa Province, was a fierce race as the riders reached an average speed of 45.9 kilometers per hour.

As the cyclists of Tap Doan Loc Troi and Gao Hat Ngoc Troi tried to convoy Quang Van Cuong by keeping strong rivals from Ho Chi Minh City-Vinama and Duoc Domesco Dong Thap at bay, they let a group of more than 10 racers break away in a two-minute distance.

At the end of the race, they accelerated and rejoined the leading group just five kilometers before the finish line.

Strong sprinters such as Roman Maikin and Quang Van Cuong of Tap Doan Loc Troi, Le Nguyet Minh of Ho Chi Minh City-New Group, and Tran Tuan Kiet of Dopagan Dong Thap offered spectators an exciting sprint performance.

Unexpectedly, Maikin, who won the third and fifth stages, had trouble with his saddle, thereby failing to sprint at his best and finishing in the 19th position.

Meanwhile, Kiet narrowly surpassed Minh to finish first after three hours, 20 minutes, and 57 seconds.

Despite the seventh stage’s result, Cuong retained both of the prestigious yellow jersey and the blue jersey, which are given to the riders leading the general classification and the points category, respectively.

The cyclists are scheduled to race 139 kilometers from Thanh Hoa Province to north-central Nghe An Province in the eighth stage of the tourney on Tuesday.

The HTV Cup race has been held annually since 1989 and is considered Vietnam’s ‘Tour de France.’

In its 34th edition, the competition will take 98 cyclists from 14 competing teams through 2,316.2 kilometers in 23 stages from north to south in celebration of Vietnam’s reunification day on April 30, 1975.

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