Nguyen Van Binh still 'misses appointment' to win at Ho Chi Minh City Television Cup 2025

Nguyễn Văn Bình - Ảnh 1. — Nicholas Kergozou (right) defeated Nguyen Van Binh to win stage 11 of the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Television Cup - Photo: HUY VU

With an 86km route from Da Nang to Tam Ky - the shortest leg of the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Television Cup, the speed was pushed very high right from the start.

The excitement started early when a group of 13 riders broke away, creating a gap of nearly 2 minutes with the large group controlled by Loc Troi An Giang Group. At the sprint point 47km from the starting line, Tran Tuan Kiet (Dopagan Dong Thap) was the winner, bringing home important bonus points.

Around the last 20km, the Vinh Long team started to deploy tactics, speeding up the group behind to narrow the gap.

Thanks to that, the racing team merged together when only 4.5km from the finish line, opening a dramatic sprint before the enthusiastic cheers of Tam Ky spectators.

Notably, foreign players from Ho Chi Minh City such as Youp Kuiper (Ho Chi Minh City - New Group) and Johnny Hoogerland (Ho Chi Minh City - Vinama) also strongly advanced to gain good positions, creating a complicated game.

Immediately after that, An Giang riders like Trinh Duc Tam, Le Ngoc Son and Nguyen Tan Hoai also "joined the fight", distracting the Vinh Long riders. However, they still managed to put their main force Nicholas Kergozou (620 Vinh Long Agriculture) in the right position to prepare for the sprint.

In the final 100m, Nicholas Kergozou sprinted fiercely. Nguyen Van Binh followed closely behind, creating a tense duel. But once again, the New Zealander proved his superiority, crossing the line first and winning his 6th stage of the tournament.

Speaking after the stage, Nicholas shared: "I felt surprised and a bit pressured when many of the overall racers also wanted to advance. But thanks to the great support from my teammates and choosing the right position, I got another victory. I am very happy with this achievement."

For his part, Nguyen Van Binh said: "The main task of the Ho Chi Minh City team is to support Johnny Hoogerland so that other foreign players do not lose time on the flat stages. Therefore, in the sprint stage, I always stick close to the green jersey of Nicholas Kergozou. I will try to win the stage in this year's race. I will compete with Nicholas Kergozou with all my might in the upcoming flat stages."

After 11 stages, Mikhail Fokin (Loc Troi An Giang Group) still firmly holds the yellow jersey. His teammate Le Ngoc Son holds the orange jersey, while Pham Le Xuan Loc (Military Zone 7) continues to wear the white jersey for the best young racer.

Tomorrow (April 15), the racers will enter stage 12, 179km long, from Quang Ngai to Quy Nhon City - a real challenge of endurance and strategy.