Chapter 317 172: Look at This Kid From the East, Winning For Him Now Is as Easy as Taking Something From a Bag

This stage was another circuit race, totaling 173.2 km.

The first 108 km were all flat roads, while the last 60-plus kilometers featured continuous climbs and short circuits.

Within the first 108 km, the stage had three intermediate sprint points, located at the 35 km, 71 km, and 108 km marks.

This stretch of road was also the last chance for the breakaway riders to showcase their abilities.

And after the 108 km mark, the race would enter the final four climbing sections.

At the 115.5 km mark was an unnamed climb with a total elevation gain of 409 meters, stretching 5 km long with an average gradient of 4.2%.

After this climb, the riders would enter the final climbing circuit: the Pécs climb.

This climb was extremely difficult, with a total elevation gain of 354 meters over 1.7 km, but its average gradient was a staggering 10.5%, with the maximum gradient reaching as high as 14.9%.

The riders had to ascend it three consecutive times to reach the summit finish.

The early part of the race continued with breakaway riders attacking, fighting for intermediate sprint points.

The Bora Team continued to run their train, protecting the Yellow Jersey leader and allowing him to conserve energy in the peloton, while also pushing to the front of the group to control the pace and advance steadily toward the finish line.

For them, victory in the Tour of Hungary was already in the bag.

Now, they just needed Huang Chong to cross the line safely with the main group.

The UAE Team, which usually liked to dictate the flow of the race, also took part in the rotation at the front of the group today.

They had no chance of fighting for first place, but they still needed to secure second.

After all, apart from Huang Chong, who was far ahead in the General Classification, the time gaps between them and the riders behind were miniscule.

Buchman, in third place overall, was now only two seconds behind Ulissi in the General Classification.

In fourth place was the Tudor Cyclist, Yannis Voisard, who was six seconds behind.

In fifth was the Bahrain Cyclist, Walter Poels, trailing by only 14 seconds.

With such small gaps, everything could be reversed and changed in Stage 5.

And after the race passed the third intermediate sprint point at the 108 km mark, Huang Chong received a radio message from his team leader:

"Huang, we're about to enter the climbing section. Right now, Buchman is only two seconds behind UAE Team's Ulissi in the GC.

We're planning to fight for a one-two finish in the General Classification.

Your climbing ability needs no introduction, and you've already locked up the overall victory. So I wanted to ask, on the second-to-last Pécs climb, could you act as a support rider and see if you can lead Buchman out from the main group on the steep incline?

Of course, whether he can keep up with you or not, it won't affect you winning the final stage!

Our team absolutely considers you our core leader!"

Huang Chong's strategy for the day was to launch a solo breakaway during the second lap of the Pécs circuit, with about 20 km left to the finish.

It was an ideal distance for an attack, and he was confident he had enough energy to ride solo all the way to the end.

However, since the team asked him to take Buchman with him, he personally had no objection. Whether Buchman had the ability to pull it off, however, was another question!

He replied bluntly:

"No problem. I can slow down at the pre-planned attack point and see if I can take Buchman with me!"

"That's great. I'll pass your message on to him."

The team leader's tone had become increasingly cautious when speaking to Huang Chong. He added:

"Then let's use the 400-to-800-meter mark of the second Pécs climb as our attack point. If Buchman can't shake the other teams' leaders in those 400 meters, then you just go on your own."

Having scouted the route during pre-race training, Huang Chong knew that this 400-meter section of the Pécs climb was where the average gradient hit that punishing 14.9%.

If he couldn't lead Buchman away even while setting the pace at the front, then there was truly no hope.

After that 14.9% section, the remaining 700 meters to the summit had average gradients of 13.3% and 8.7% respectively.

In short, it was an incredibly tough, short, steep climb.

But no matter how good the plan, it's hard to execute when a rider lacks the ability.

As the race entered the final 20 km, amidst the cheers of Hungarian fans covering the hillsides, Huang Chong moved directly to the front of the group and, as planned, began to pull Buchman along.

Buchman, of course, immediately followed his wheel.

But as Huang Chong, matching Buchman's pace, began climbing the steep incline while seated, Buchman had to get out of his saddle and rock the bike furiously, yet still couldn't shake the leaders from the other teams.

Faced with this situation, neither Huang Chong nor the entire team had any way to salvage it.

On a high-difficulty climb, the riding speed is already slow, making the drafting effect very limited.

Huang Chong's base power output alone was enough to completely overwhelm Buchman.

And the leaders from the other teams were obviously no slouches, either.

They were willing to let Huang Chong go because, after Stages 3 and 4, they had personally experienced the gap in ability between themselves and him.

On a terrifying climb like this, if they didn't let him go, they would just become the next Thibaut Nis, getting brutally dropped by Huang Chong. They weren't that foolish.

But they would never allow Buchman to get away and snatch the runner-up spot in the General Classification.

Finally, after getting through the toughest 14.9% section of the climb, the Bora Team Leader could only scratch his head in frustration as he watched Buchman still being tightly marked by the main group.

Second place in the GC was clearly out of the question now.

In fact, seeing the pained expression on Buchman's face, if Huang Chong continued to lead him on the steep slope, not only would Buchman fail to shake his rivals, but he would likely crack himself.

If he got dropped by his own team leader and ended up losing third place in the GC, the Bora Team would become the laughingstock of the World Tour.