HA NOI — Lex Nederlof of the Netherland's CCN team won the third stage of the International Cycling to the Northern Delta Tournament yesterday.

The 175km stage saw racers compete between Phu Ly City and Ha Long City.

Just over 70km into the stage, 11 cyclists broke away from the pack, including three from Domesco Pharmacy Dong Thap 1, two from ADC-Vinh Long Television, An Giang Plant Protection and CCN, and one each from Ha Noi and South Korea.

The Domesco Pharmacy Dong Thap team tried their best to remain in front in the team event, but teammate Nguyen Truong Tai, who held the yellow jersey after two stages, got stuck behind in the peloton, trailing the leading group by six minutes.

With 20km to go, five cyclists opened up a lead, and Nederlof sprinted to cross the finish line first in a time of 4hr 36.1min, followed by Ho Huynh Van An of An Giang Plant Protection and Trinh Duc Tam of Ha Noi.

Tam claimed the yellow jersey with a combined time of 7:48.28, followed by Nederlof in second and Le Ngoc Son of Domesco Pharmacy Dong Thap in third place.

Dong Thap retained the lead in the team event, followed by CCN and An Giang Plant Protection.

Cyclists will compete over the 170km fourth stage from Ha Long City to Mong Cai City today. — VNS