Mongolian cyclist Erdenebat Bilguunjargai finished first in the 17th stage of the 2022 Ho Chi Minh City TV (HTV) Cup tournament following a 94-kilometer race from Quy Nhon City to Tuy Hoa City in south-central Vietnam on Saturday.

Ho Chi Minh City-Vinama and Ho Chi Minh City-New Group decided to send the cyclists unlikely to compete in the leader board to the top of the race so that they could take all the bonus points.

This tactic was to help Russian racer Igor Frolov defend his yellow jersey against such strong contenders as Quang Van Cuong, Nguyen Tan Hoai, and Roman Maikin of Tap Doan Loc Troi and Loic Desriac of Duoc Domesco Dong Thap.

All teams staged a lot of attacks right from the beginning, according to coach Do Thanh Dat of Ho Chi Minh City-Vinama.

However, Mongolian cyclist Erdenebat Bilguunjargai of Kenda Dong Nai managed to separate himself from the rest of the group in the last 10 kilometers.

As the strong teams were busy with their own strategy to control their top competitors, Bilguunjargai was able to complete the race in two hours 18 minutes and 56 seconds.

One minute and six seconds later, Nguyen Tan Hoai of Tap Doan Loc Troi had a sprint to take the second place and win the blue jersey from Tran Tuan Kiet of Dopagan Dong Thap.

Frolov of Ho Chi Minh City-Vinama remained the holder of the yellow jersey.

The cyclists were scheduled to race from Tuy Hoa City, Phu Yen Province to Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province in the 18th stage of the tourney on Sunday.

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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