Chapter 324 174: Changing History, Starting the Final 1KM Lead-out for Big Brother (Part 2)

Only riders who place in the top three at intermediate sprint points and at the final sprint can get time bonuses to gain an advantage in the standings.

After the race, Aldag was very satisfied to see that Huang Chong had stayed steadily in front of Roglič the entire time. Whether on a climb, a descent, or a flat road, he consistently kept pace with the peloton and allowed Roglič to finish the entire stage safely and comfortably.

In fact, having a rider like Huang Chong, who was only in his first year on the World Tour, ride lead for Roglič put him under a lot of pressure.

Although Huang Chong was already quite strong, he ultimately lacked experience in major competitions.

Being a personal domestique is a completely different matter from competing for the general classification yourself.

But now that Huang Chong had finished the first stage with a perfect performance, Aldag undoubtedly breathed a sigh of relief.

He praised him with a look of admiration:

"Excellent! Huang, you did a great job today!"

Huang Chong smiled and nodded, naturally understanding what he meant.

Don't think being a personal domestique is simple. In reality, to become a truly top-tier lead-out rider, things like positioning, choosing your line, and selecting the right road surface during a race are all critically important.

Because a domestique not only has to break the wind for his team leader to save energy, but also needs to ensure the leader is following him on the best possible line to guarantee their safety.

After being led by Huang Chong for the entire first stage, Roglič also felt quite good.

For a battle-hardened veteran like him, although he had a naturally elegant and humble personality, he was still very picky about his domestiques deep down.

Especially since he came from the Visma Team, which was famous for its teamwork—

So you can imagine just how aggressive and risky it was for Aldag to pair him with a rider like Huang Chong, whose World Tour resume was only a "half-year" long.

But the final result was much better than Roglič had expected.

When Huang Chong was leading, he was not only steady but also skilled at positioning. He was very strong in physical contests in the corners, not at all like the frail-looking 65kg rider he appeared to be.

Following closely behind Huang Chong, Roglič's greatest benefit was having enough space to move forward steadily—the most comfortable riding environment for a team leader.

So after the S1 Stage ended, Roglič also smiled, proactively hugged Huang Chong, and offered him a few words of encouragement.

Receiving positive recognition from the team's core leader naturally made Huang Chong feel very pleased.

Brother Luo was a senior in the cycling world and one of the most important superstars of the current era.

For someone of his caliber to not put on airs was already quite rare in Western competitive sports.

With the first stage over, the second day of racing was a stage where the Climbers from every team would have to fight with all their might.

The S2 Stage started in Gannat, France, and went all the way to the finish at the Lalogue Pass (Col de la Loge).

The total length was 142 km, and the entire route was uphill. Not only were there four officially marked climbs, but there were also many unmarked climbing sections.

For example, the final climb to Lalogue Pass, which was 10 km long with an average gradient of 3.6%, was not among the officially marked climbs.

This just shows how difficult the course was.

According to the officially marked climbs, there were two second-category climbs and two Third Category Climbs along the route.

The first of these, a Third Category Climb called the Côte de Fagot, was located at the 45.5 km mark. It had a total ascent of 700 meters over 5.3 km, with an average gradient of 5.3% and a maximum gradient of 6.6%.

Without a doubt, this climb wasn't very difficult.

But the second climb, a second-category one at the 67.5 km mark called the Col Saint-Thomas, was on a completely different level of difficulty.

This was the hardest climb of the entire stage, with a total ascent of 925 meters over 4.4 km, an average gradient of 6.7%, and a maximum gradient that reached a staggering 13.3%.

In the final 1.3 km of the climb, the average gradient soared to 10.8%.

If this climb had been the finish line, Huang Chong would definitely have contended for the stage win.

Unfortunately, however, this climb wasn't even at the halfway point of the race.

The third climb, the Côte de Saint-Georges-en-Couzan, was also rated as second-category, with its summit at the 125 km mark.

But even among second-category climbs, there are differences.

The Côte de Saint-Georges-en-Couzan had a total ascent of 854 meters over 7.4 km, with an average gradient of 5.7% and a maximum gradient of only 6.2% near the beginning.

As for the last climb, a Third Category Climb at the 134.5 km mark called the Col de la Croix Ladret, it was 3.2 km long with an average gradient of 5.8% and a maximum of 6.2%.

Once past this climb, they would enter the final 10 km ascent to Lalogue Pass.

Overall, looking at each climb individually, none of them seemed overwhelmingly difficult.

But when taken together, they would wear the riders down with repeated ups and downs. The fact that they still had to sprint to the finish on a long, gentle slope to claim victory made the stage quite difficult.

After the race began, a breakaway group of five riders formed, as is customary.

They were Bruno Amiel from the Decathlon Team, Filippo Conca from the Q36.5 Team, Xandro Meurisse from the Alpecin Team, Jonas Gregor from the Lotto Team, and Mathis Le Berre.

Compared to the breakaway riders in smaller races, the cycling abilities of this group were clearly on a much higher level.

Especially Amiel from the Decathlon Team—that guy even had the strength to pull off a solo ride all the way to the finish.

Therefore, just past the halfway point of the race, as the main peloton passed the first two climbs and reached the 90 km mark, preparing for a long descent, Aldag immediately got on the radio and instructed Denz to move to the front of the main group and take control of the pace.