Cycling

A truck that was carrying bicycles and equipment of Việt Nam and Singapore teams, catches fire on the way from Bangkok to Phitsanulok for the 2025 Asian Road Cycling Championships. Photos courtesy of VCF

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese competitors will be loaned vehicles and receive compensation from the 2025 Asian Road Cycling Championships' organising committee, following an accident which destroyed their bikes ahead of the tournament.

The Việt Nam team arrived in Thailand for the February 7-16 event and organisers provided a bus for the team, while a truck carried all other equipment including the bikes, spare tires, shoes and helmets, from Bangkok to the competition venue in Phitsanulok.

Unfortunately, a sudden fire happened and destroyed about 30 bikes and much of the equipment, costing the team billions of Việt Nam đồng.

Nguyễn Tuấn Vũ and his US$10,000 bike which was burned in the truck fire. Photo of Nguyễn Tuấn Vũ

Notably, some special bicycles used for individual time trials are worth up to VNĐ250 million (US$10,000) each, while none of the racing bikes were worth less than VNĐ150 million.

The Singapore team, whose equipment was on the same truck, suffered similar losses.

"Representatives of the organising committee and hosts Thailand have contacted us for damage details. They collected information, number and sizes of bikes, helmets and shoes," said Nguyễn Ngọc Vũ, general secretary of the Việt Nam Cycling and Motor Sports Federation.

"They promised to lend bikes to our team, while the Asian Cycling Federation leaders and other teams were also ready to give support to Vietnamese athletes."

According to Hoàng Quốc Vinh of the Sports Authority of Việt Nam, the compensation for Việt Nam would be discussed on February 6.

Coach Mai Công Hiếu appreciated the organisers' attitude, but was concerned about Việt Nam's performance, which would mean them competing using unfamiliar bikes.

The national cycling legend said their wheels were incredibly important, with each bike carefully calibrated to match the riders' height, weight and other technical issues. Competing with a new and strange bike would be a big challenge to any athlete.

He said it would definitely affect the performance of the Vietnamese, who were expected to win big in the women's and junior categories.

"We practised hard throughout the Tết holiday and couldn't wait to compete so this has been a big shock for us," said Hiếu.

"I could only encourage my cyclists to try their best with the loaned bikes. But it really will be difficult to earn high results in this situation."

The cause of the fire has not yet been announced.

Seven bikes and attached gears have been given to the Việt Nam cyclists so they could take part in the time trial events from February 7-12.

The Vietnamese federation will transport other bikes from Việt Nam to Thailand on February 10 for those who compete in the road races.

The Vietnamese team who will compete in the 2025 Asian Road Cycling Championships on February 7-16.

Việt Nam have 16 representatives competing across ten categories at the continental championships. Among them is Olympian Nguyễn Thị Thật, who was expected to win a gold medal in the elite women's road race. She won gold in 2023 and silver in 2024.

Nguyễn Thị Bé Hồng, who took gold in the youth women's class in 2023, is also expecting to repeat her achievement. VNS