Cycling resumes next week in a country that has recorded no deaths from the COVID-19 virus and only 288 confirmed cases: Vietnam. The HTV Cup will be held from May 19 to June 7.

Vincenzo Nibali's Absence and the Battle of the Pink Bicycle fans can cheer for Hanoi team Luong Van Sinh instead of the Giro d'Italia. This will be the 32nd edition of Vietnam's oldest and most famous stage race.

The event, organized by Ho Chi Minh TV, was originally scheduled for April but was postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak; the UCI-sanctioned event will be suspended until July 1. Cycling has been very popular in Vietnam, which has a population of nearly 100 million since the French colonial period (1887-1954) Despite being a very popular sport in Vietnam, not a single race has been included in the UCI calendar. The last time it was held was the 2012 ADC Tour of Vietnam.

Although Vietnam shares a 1,300 km border with China, the country's experience with SARS in 2003 has helped to limit the spread of COVID-19.

"Everything is fine now and our race will be the first sporting event in Vietnam after COVID-19," Duc Phat Nguyen, a journalist and member of the organizing committee, told Cycling News.

"Riders do not have to wear masks, but staff, photographers, referees, and motorcycle drivers will.

Since foreigners are not yet allowed to enter Vietnam, the 84-start list includes defending champion Javier Salda Perez of Spain, a member of Thanh Phô Ho Chi Minh, and Roubaix-Lille Métropole ( 2011-2013), and Loïc Deliac, a Frenchman from Bikelife Dong Nai who married a Vietnamese woman and immigrated to the country while racing professionally at Roubaix-Lille Métropole (2011-2013), are the only Vietnamese nationals on the team.

"I usually spend eight months a year in Vietnam, and when I don't race here, I go back to Spain," said the 31-year-old Zarda from Zamora, Castilla y León.

"I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City in February before the outbreak. I have been training very well for the past few months with the goal of living here as a professional cyclist and winning the HTV Cup again. This is the most important race for my team."

"This event is well covered in the newspapers. The criterium will be broadcast live on TV, and the other stages will have 15-minute highlights each night." Every day it is broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube. The race is usually held to celebrate the reunification of the country (1976). This year the race will start on May 19, the birthday of Ho Chi Minh (Vietnamese revolutionary leader born on this date in 1890).

Twelve teams of seven people each will form a peloton and run 2,183 km from northern Vietnam to Ho Chi Minh City in the south. In addition to Sarda and Des Riac, race favorites include Sarda's Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh teammates Le Nguyet Minh and Nguyen Truong Thai, Dong Thap's Phan Hoang Thai and Nguyen Tan Hoai, Chinh Duc Tam and Le Ngoc Son (both from An Giang And, of course, Luong Van Sinh, 23, who is on the team in the capital city of Hanoi, hails from a mountainous region near the Thai border and speaks three languages: Thai, Hmong, and Viet.