The 2015 Open Binh Duong Television Bicycle Tournament – A new meaningful way

Instead of racing around Binh Duong New City or through other provinces like in the 1^st tournament 2014, the 2^nd Open Binh Duong Television Bicycle Tournament 2015 – Becamex IDC Cup has a new way. Each race is a different route (5 stages with a total length of more than 300km), going through historical monuments, revolutionary, cultural sites in the province…

Morning March 4^th, roads around Binh Duong New City were so bustling and colorful, because of nearly 220 racing cyclists coming from 25 teams of HCMC, Binh Duong, Dong Nai... and logistics teams, referees, service, guests, sponsors, fans. They came to attend the opening ceremony and the 1^st race of 59km long under the 2015 Open Binh Duong Television Bicycle Tournament – Becamex IDC Cup.

This was the stage commemorating the 40^th anniversary of Dau Tieng district liberation, the 84^th Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union establishment, the 69^th Vietnam Sports Day, and especially celebrating the 40^th the National liberation day (04/30/1975 - 04/30/2015).

Starting at provincial Convention Exhibition Center, racers moved toward Dau Tieng district, went through historical routes, like: Highway 13, Ben Cat market, Rach Bap T-junction, Thung Tho intersection, Ong Co bridge, then returned to Binh Duong Avenue to finish.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Quang, a member of organizers, said: “This year, racing routes are opened in many districts, towns in the province, thus there were many fans standing along roads to cheer. This joy motivated racers a lot”.

After 1 hour 23 minutes 13 seconds of competing, the 1^st stage ended successfully. Organizers awarded first, second, third, fourth and fifth prizes to highest ranked racers in 3 contents: Grade A (first prize to veteran racer Mai Cong Hieu, HCM Gau Vang team); Grade B (Vo Thanh Phong of Dong Tam Team), and veteran (Nguyen Van Thanh Chi of Huy Tung team).

Reported by C.Thanh – Translated by Ngoc Huynh

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