Wheel of Fortune to the Continental Arena

Although it has only recently been introduced into training and coaching, in recent years, the cycling discipline of Lao Cai high-performance sports has achieved many successes, creating a buzz in domestic tournaments and is aiming for the continental arena.

"Panning for gold"

Lao Cai sports used to be known for its excellent athletes in boxing, weightlifting, pencat silat, taekwondo, karate... However, few people know that in the borderland of the Fatherland, where the natural conditions are harsh, many talents in cycling are being born.

The provincial Sports Training and Competition Center has trained 16 cyclists, of whom 6 are currently playing for the national youth cycling team. What is special is that these 6 cyclists are all ethnic minorities, coming from villages and hamlets in the province, such as racer Chao Ong Lu Phim, Dao ethnic group; racer Ly Do Xe, Ha Nhi ethnic group; racer Vang Van Sang, Mong ethnic group; racer Hang A Sinh, Mong ethnic group; racer Ban Thi Vang, Dao ethnic group; and racer Hoang Thi Tham, Tay ethnic group.

Finding sports talents in general, and cycling in particular, is difficult, but training, nurturing, and coaching these “rough gems” to become excellent racers, with good technique, tactics, good physical strength, and good ethics, ready to participate in tournaments is much more difficult. Mr. Nguyen Tien Luc, cycling coach, Provincial Sports Training and Competition Center said: We often go to schools in the province to look for cycling talents. From the introduction of physical education teachers, we will choose students with qualities suitable for cycling such as not too tall and big, but having a “grass carp body”, small ankles, and a passion for speed. Surprisingly, students in the highlands often meet our criteria better than their peers in cities and towns, including important criteria such as endurance, good cardiovascular system, and willpower.

Practice makes perfect

Cycling is one of the sports that has developed in Lao Cai in recent years.

Like many other sports, to compete successfully, win medals, and bring glory to their homeland and country, athletes must always make constant efforts in training and competition, even at the cost of sweat and tears. It is known that every day, in addition to studying, cyclists must wake up at 5am, finish personal hygiene, then get on their bikes to practice until 6am, then shower, have breakfast and go to school. In the afternoon, athletes cycle from 2pm to 4:30pm. During the days preparing for the tournament, the training time and intensity can double, the most "intense" of which is having to cycle nearly 100km of steep mountain passes in hot weather. After about 1 year of getting used to and practicing cycling, some Lao Cai athletes, when preparing to cross the finish line, reached speeds of up to 60km/h on off-road vehicles. This is truly a terrifying number that outsiders can hardly imagine. Athlete Ban Thi Vang said: When I was chosen as a cyclist, my family and I determined that we had to train hard, sacrifice sweat and tears to have a chance to succeed. There were times during training that I was almost exhausted, even injured, but I still tried to complete the training plan set by the coach. As an athlete on the national youth cycling team, I have to be even more determined, strive even harder, and devote myself to cycling to achieve even more success.

Aiming for the continental arena

Among the 12 members of the national youth cycling team, there are 6 riders from Lao Cai, equivalent to 50%, this is a number that surprises many people. Notably, among them, there are 2 riders, Chao Ong Lu Phim and Ban Thi Vang, who are in good form and competing impressively at the 2024 National Club Cup Short-Distance Mountain Bike Championship, with the participation of 60 athletes from 9 teams from provinces, cities and industries across the country. The tournament has 5 rounds, round 1 takes place in Lao Cai province, round 2 takes place in Hanoi city, round 3 takes place in Hoa Binh province. Up to this point, the tournament has completed 3 rounds. After the first 2 rounds, in the 3rd round, racer Chao Ong Lu Phim for the first time surpassed Vietnam's number 1 male mountain bike racer - Dinh Van Linh (Hoa Binh) in the cross-country category, winning the Gold Medal. Following the success of racer Chao Ong Lu Phim, racer Ban Thi Vang also won the Gold Medal in round 3 of the 2024 National Club Cup Short-Distance Mountain Bike Championship.

Coach Nguyen Tien Luc added: According to the plan, round 4 of the tournament will take place in August in An Giang province and round 5 will take place in October in Hoa Binh province. The success in the previous rounds will be the motivation for Chao Ong Lu Phim and Ban Thi Vang to compete for high results in the remaining rounds. If there are no surprises, it is likely that the two racers Chao Ong Lu Phim and Ban Thi Vang of Lao Cai will be selected by the Vietnam Cycling - Motor Sports Federation to participate in the Asian Mountain Bike Championship in Malaysia next May. Recently, Vietnam Television (VTV) made a short report, talking about the efforts and success of young racer Chao Ong Lu Phim...

The continental arena is much more fierce than the domestic arena. Therefore, Chao Ong Lu Phim and Ban Thi Vang always determine that today’s success is only the “first brick” laying the foundation for the future. To stand on new heights, reap more success, and bring glory to the homeland and country, we need to sacrifice and make much, much more effort…

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