Vietnamese rider Le Nguyet Minh won the 15th stage of the 2022 Ho Chi Minh City TV (HTV) Cup tournament on Thursday morning, thanks to assistance from his Russian teammate Igor Frolov.

The 15th stage took the cyclists 86 kilometers from Quang Nam Province to Quang Ngai Province.

Ho Chi Minh City-Vinama and Ho Chi Minh City-New Group’s racers tried to hold the peloton back while those from Duoc Domesco Dong Thap and Tap Doan Loc Troi attempted to lead the pursuing group in order to catch up with the breakaway.

Igor Frolov of Ho Chi Minh City-Vinama, the holder of the prestigious yellow jersey, which is given to the rider leading the general classification, took advantage of the long Co Luy Bridge to distance himself from the peloton about seven kilometers before the finish line. 

Following him were Baasankhuu Myagmarsuren of GSB Dong Nai, Konstantin Nekrasov of Ho Chi Minh City-New Group, and Roman Maikin of Tap Doan Loc Troi.

Duoc Domesco Dong Thap and Tap Doan Loc Troi’s cyclists then teamed up to catch up with Frolov in the last 500 meters.

However, the effort took a lot of their energy, allowing Le Nguyet Minh of Ho Chi Minh City-New Group to pedal to the stage victory after an impressive field sprint.

This is also Minh’s second stage win at this year’s tourney.

Frolov and Tran Tuan Kiet of Dopagan Dong Thap still retained the yellow jersey and the blue jersey, which is given to the rider leading the points category, respectively.

The cyclists were scheduled to race 187 kilometers from Quang Ngai Province to Binh Dinh Province in the 16th stage of the tourney on Friday.

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 on April 30, 1975.

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