“They weren’t allowed to eat pho bo during the race.” Frolova on her victory in the cycle race in Vietnam

Russian cycling champion Natalia Frolova and Olympic medalist Gulnaz Khatuntseva During the season break we went to Vietnam and competed in the Biwase Cup stage race. Frolova won the all-around, Khatuntseva came second.

talked to Natalya and found out why she needed all this and why the Vietnamese team, which decided to invite Russians to race as part of its team, needed all this.

“My husband already had racing experience in Vietnam,” says Frolova. — The director of the women’s team wrote to him asking him to find strong Russian athletes. He nominated me and I nominated Gulnaz (Khatuntseva).

— What were the first questions asked to your husband about this – about heat and food?

– No. I understood that it would be very hot and I would only eat rice, so the questions were all about the race. By the way, I expected it wouldn’t be so hot after all.

— How do you cope with such conditions?

— In principle, I like it. But here it was +40, it’s not easy.

– Because of the humidity?

— Humidity doesn’t affect me at all. It’s just very hot. In Italy, the climate is drier and the heat is simply scorching. The local heat was therefore not easy, but still easier than the Italian one.

— So you didn’t doubt whether to go or not?

“I was curious to see how I would ride in such conditions. The race is quite long – ten stages; I wanted to understand how I would cope with this in such conditions. In addition, the weather conditions here allow good highway work. In Turkey, at this time of year, the weather conditions are already worse than in Vietnam. It hasn’t rained once here in a month and a half.

—Who were your teammates, apart from Gulnaz?

— A Japanese, a Mongolian runner, the others are local runners.

— What is the point of inviting foreign runners to Vietnam?

“I think they wanted to win this stage race.” Last year, the Thai team won, taking all jerseys based on the results of all rankings. For Vietnamese, this multi-day event is the most important. The organization was at the highest level, lots of reporters, interviews, photos and broadcast from start to finish.

— Not all European women’s races can boast of this.

— Of course, it’s not every time that there is a broadcast and such excitement during women’s races.

— I saw a non-yellow hat on you – is it like the yellow jersey of the leader of the general classification?

https://t.me/Marathontula/1147

“This appears to be part of a marketing campaign.”

— What is the course of the race?

— There were stages with mountains, with hills, there was a stage with short but steep climbs. Most were walking on the plain. In principle, everything on the route suited me, besides, I drove it in training, so I was ready for anything.

— Back to the rice, how much did you eat?

– A lot of! Usually rice and chicken are also normal for European races, but there they always eat pasta, but here there was no pasta.

—Aren’t glass or rice noodles popular at local bike races?

— For some reason, the coach didn’t let us eat the famous Vietnamese pho bo soup during the race. They eat it for breakfast. We have breakfast, of course, because we’re not used to eating pho. For breakfast we had scrambled eggs and bread.

— And Vietnamese coffee?

– It is delicious. Cold coffee with condensed milk!

— There were craftsmen who calculated your money price from your photographs. They say it’s not enough.

— If we compare it with the men’s World Tour, of course, it’s not enough. For a women’s race in Vietnam, this is absolutely fine.

– No more contract.

– Yes. Plus the salary.

—Did you have time to go for a walk?

— Not much, all the time in training or racing. But we managed to swim in the sea! The water is clear and very warm. We tried local dishes – crabs, shrimps and drank exotic fruit juices. I had pleasant impressions. And the people are kind, friendly, welcoming and responsive.

— If they call you again, will you go?

– Yes. It was very interesting for me. I looked at how and what it worked and tested my strength. I received a sea of ​​​​emotions.