Trans-Vietnam cycling tournament 2014 - national defence cup kicked offin the southernmost province of Ca Mau on December 2 with the first180-kilometre long race to Can Tho city.
The event is part ofthe activities to celebrate the 70 th founding anniversary of theVietnam People’s Army (December 22, 1944-2014) and the 25 thanniversary of the people’s National Defence Day (December 22,1989-2014).
As many as 300 cyclists from 15 leading domesticteams and two foreign teams of Cambodia and Laos will compete in a racecovering 1,300 kilometres from Ca Mau to the northeastern province ofCao Bang.
During the race, the organising board will launchvarious charitable activities, such as presenting gifts to social policybeneficiaries and scholarships to offspring of servicemen, with a totalfunding of 3 billion VND (143,000 USD).
At the tournament’sopening ceremony, 85 gifts were given to national contributors, policybeneficiaries, and martyr families, and 20 scholarships were granted tochildren of the officials serving in the armed forces in Ca Mauprovince.
The tournament, jointly held by the People’s ArmyNewspaper, the military-run telecom group Viettel, the VietnamMotor-Bicycle Sports Federation and the General Department of Sports andPhysical Training, will run until December 16.-VNA