More than 100 competitive cyclists from 17 high-level professional teams from across the world competed in the first stage of the 2023 Trans-Himalaya Cycling Race in Nyingchi city of the Tibet autonomous region on Saturday. [Photo by Sonam/For chinadaily.com.cn]

More than 100 competitive cyclists from 17 high-level professional teams from across the world competed in the first stage of the 2023 Trans-Himalaya Cycling Race in Nyingchi city of the Tibet autonomous region on Saturday.

Co-hosted by the General Administration of Sport of China, the China Media Group, and the regional government of the Tibet autonomous region, this year's race spans over 312 kilometers. It is divided into 3 stages, commencing in places with elevations ranging from 2,988 meters to 4,034 meters, and passing through cities including Nyingchi, Shigatse, and the regional capital Lhasa. Nyingchi is a prefecture-level city that contains multiple counties and towns.

During the first stage, cyclists rode from Kongpo Park in Nyingchi township to the Quanzhou Bridge in Kongpo'gyada county along national Highway G318. Both locations are within the region called Nyingchi city, having 129.8 km of distance between them.

More than 100 competitive cyclists from 17 high-level professional teams from across the world competed in the first stage of the 2023 Trans-Himalaya Cycling Race in Nyingchi city of the Tibet autonomous region on Saturday. [Photo by Sonam/For chinadaily.com.cn]

Cyclers from 17 international and domestic teams joined the race along National Highway G318 and the beautiful Nyangchu River.

After fierce competition, Rikunov Petr from the Chengdu CCN Cycling team placed first, with second place going to Torres Villareal Carlos Alberto from the SCOM-Taishan Sport Team, and third place being awarded to Stepanov Andrei, also from the Chengdu CCN Cycling team.

"Five cyclers from our team joined the race representing our region, and we are quite satisfied with their performance in the first stage," Dawa Tsering, the coach of the Tibet Himalayan Cycling Team, was quoted as saying by China Tibet Online.

"It brings many excellent professional teams and cyclers, and it is a good learning opportunity for our team members," he said.

On Monday morning, the 89.97-kilometer second stage of the race was held. This portion of the race ran between Gyalze county and the Samdrubtse district of Tibet autonomous region's Shigatse city.