Trinh Duc Tam of ADC-Vinh Long Television 1 won the second stage of the Return to Truong Son cycling tour yesterday.

The 144km stage challenged cyclists with rough terrain and scorching heat.

At the 80km mark, Ha Thanh Tam of the An Giang Plant Protection youth team, Ho Hoang Son of ADC-Vinh Long Television 1 and Yin Chih Wang of Holland's CCN broke away from the bunch. However, cyclists of Eximbank HCM City joined the leading group to help Le Van Duan to retain the yellow jersey when they were 50km from the finishing line. With Duan unable to keep up with the pace, his competitors left him more than 7min behind.

With a kilometre to go, Tam escaped from the peloton and crossed the finish line first with a time of 3:51.11. Do Tuan Anh of Dong Thap Domesco Pharmacy and Tran Van Quyen of Military Zone 7 came in second and third.

Tam's win earnt him ownership of the yellow jersey after two stages with a combined time of 44:44.07, followed by Anh and Bui Minh Thuy of ADC-Vinh Long Television.

In the team competition, Eximbank HCM City, Dong Thap Domesco Pharmacy, ADC-Vinh Long Television and An Giang Plant Protection share the top position with a time of 14:12.54.

Today they will compete in the 198km third stage from Thanh Hoa City to Ha Tinh City.-VNS