Rikunov won the cross-Vietnam cycling tournament for the 8th time

Today’s stage, April 24, from Da Lat to Bao Loc is only 97.5 km long on a downhill road, helping riders go at high speed. Determined to compete for the Green Shirt title with Rikunov (An Giang), racer Martin Laas (Vinh Long) attacked first to win prize points along the 1st sprint. This effort helped the Estonian racer finish second, behind Pham Le Xuan Loc (Military Region 7).

After that, the foreign soldiers launched another attack to separate the group, with Ho Chi Minh City New Group rider Igor Frolov leading, followed by Rikunov, Timofei (HCMC Vinama), Loic (Dong Thap), Maikin (Vinama). An Giang), Novikov (Binh Duong). The very high speed created by this group of leading riders caused the gap with the following group to continuously increase, sometimes more than 5 minutes. In this fierce competition, Maikin and Novikov were gradually “overwhelmed” and then fell behind.

The first group, with four riders Frolov, Loic, Rikunov, Timofei, continued to maintain a strong pace towards the finish line in Bao Loc city. 10 km from the finish line, Frolov proactively attacked with the hope of escaping alone to capture the Yellow Shirt, but Rikunov immediately followed. Not only that, when there were about 3 km left, Rikunov suddenly accelerated, separated from the group to run alone and reached the finish line after 2 hours, 2 minutes 31 seconds, reaching an average speed of 47.749km/h. Timofei chased at full speed, but still reached the finish line 15 seconds slower.

This is the Russian driver’s 8th victory at the 2024 Television Cup, thereby helping him maintain both titles. Rikunov is 55.2 seconds ahead of Timofei in the Yellow Shirt race, and 37 points ahead of Martin Laas in the Blue Shirt race.

“The weather today was favorable. I had also recovered from my injury, so after my opponent attacked, I proactively made a solo shot to the finish line to win the stage and at the same time defend my titles. I am satisfied with the results. What can be achieved by increasing the gap with opponents”, Rikunov shared after the finish line.

Other titles after stage 19 remain unchanged as the Red Shirt belongs to Frolov (Ho Chi Minh City Vinama), the Orange Shirt still belongs to Nguyen Tan Hoai (An Giang) and the White Shirt belongs to Pham Le Xuan Loc (Military Region 7). Ho Chi Minh City team Vinama is still the best team, followed by An Giang and Dong Thap.

Tomorrow, April 23, the group will compete in stage 19 from Bao Loc to Binh Duong, 155.5 km long.

Duc Dong