Vietnamese teen cyclist wins Asian tournament

The tournament, taking place from June 7 to 13 in Rayong, Thailand, is divided into three competition levels: professional, U23 (from 19-22 years old) and youth (17-18 years old).

Hong, 18, attended the women’s individual event on Thursday and won the gold medal. She finished 15 km in 23 minutes and 43.89 seconds, with an average speed of 37.92 kph, faster than the second-place Uzbekistan’s Asal Rizafva by 4.371 seconds. This is a big improvement for Hong as she only won a bronze medal in the 2022 edition.

Vietnam attended the tournament with 21 members, including 15 cyclists.

Also on Thursday, Pham Le Xuan Loc, 18, won the bronze medal for Vietnam in the individual youth event for men. Loc finished behind opponents from Kazhakstan and Indonesia.

Nguyen The Be Hong (C) receives the gold medal at the Asian Road Cycling Championships on June 8, 2023. Photo by Vietnam Cycling Federation

Vietnam will compete for 12 sets of medals in two events, individual and road cycling at three competition levels.

Experts say that it’s difficult for Vietnamese male cyclists to achieve good results, but the females have a high chance to grab medals.

Cyclist Nguyen Thi That is expected to win gold in the women’s event on June 12, with a race track of 109 km and a flat road, repeating her gold medal wins in 2018 and 2022.