Russian biker Igor Frolov of the Ho Chi Minh City-Vinama team showed an outstanding performance although he did not win the seventh stage of the 2023 Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV) Cycling Tournament on Sunday.

The seventh stage from Thua Thien-Hue Province to Da Nang City in central Vietnam was considered one of the most attractive ones in the tourney as cyclists had to cover three mountain passes—Phuoc Tuong, Phu Gia, and Hai Van.

After the opening whistle, weaker cyclists of the Loc Troi team broke away to score bonus points along the route to protect Russian cyclist Petr Rikunov, who had won two stages of the cycling race this year.

The cyclists were reunited when they neared Hai Van Mountain Pass, which links Da Nang City and Thua Thien-Hue Province.

Frolov took the initiative in reaching a high speed, at over 71 kilometers per hour at times.

About five kilometers to the top of Hai Van Pass, there were only three strong mountain bikers, including Frolov, Rikunov, and Spanish biker Javier Sarda Perez of the Binh Minh Binh Duong Plastics team, who won the most-coveted yellow jersey in the race in 2019 and 2020.

Frolov wanted to break away but Rikunov followed him like a shadow.

However, Frolov claimed the red polka dot jersey for the rider with the most mountain points.

The trio continued showing impressive performances at an astonishing speed.

They all accelerated but Rikunov showcased a strong sprint to win the stage.

Ninety-eight cyclists from 14 competing teams are scheduled to race for 83.4 kilometers from Da Nang to Tam Ky City of neighboring Quang Nam Province on Monday.

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

In its 35th edition, the competition takes cyclists through 2,964 kilometers in 25 stages from north to south to celebrate Vietnam’s reunification on April 30, 1975.

Frolov won the most-coveted yellow jersey in the 2022 edition.

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