Chapter 329 - 175: Carrying Big Brother Again, Clinching Consecutive Stage Wins

Less than 500 meters after Jensen broke away, another cyclist, Valentin Madouas from the FDJ team, launched a solo attack while wearing the French national champion’s jersey.

Huang Chong, tucked into the middle of the Bora train, naturally chose to ignore these attacks.

After all, with their level of strength and forty kilometers of long climbs ahead, there was no way they could stay away.

Ironically, after breaking away, Jensen managed to catch the three-man breakaway group ahead with 36 km to go, successfully linking up with them—

But the chase for the French national champion, Madouas, became a little awkward.

He couldn’t catch the breakaway group at all; in fact, the time gap only grew wider.

Finally, after a grueling 10 km solo effort, he was mercilessly caught and swallowed by the peloton with about 30 km remaining to the finish line.

However, the price for that failed 10 km solo ride was extremely high.

Because Madouas began to fall back repeatedly on the subsequent climbs, eventually ending up in the same group as Denz, the Bora Team’s rider for controlling the flats, and Pedersen, the sprinter from Trek Team.

The race progressed. After the peloton reeled in Madouas, they still hadn’t caught the four breakaway riders ahead by the time they reached the 10 km mark.

But as they entered the final 10 km, Huang Chong could clearly feel the other teams starting to target Bora.

Ineos, United Arab Emirates, and Visma Team, in particular, moved their respective trains to the front of the peloton, riding abreast to increase the pace and take control.

Their move was a clear, unspoken agreement: they couldn’t let the Bora Team control the race any longer.

Huang Chong’s offensive threat was just too great.

If they let Vlasov and Sindel safely keep the Bora Team at the front of the peloton, just like yesterday, they would be completely unable to respond when Huang Chong launched an attack with his leader in the final kilometer on today’s long, gradual finishing climb.

In a short, anaerobic Sprinting Burst, they were no match for Huang Chong!

Therefore, to counter Huang Chong’s simple yet devastatingly effective lead-out tactic, the other top teams with general classification ambitions decided to change the tempo at the 10 km mark, refusing to just sit in and wait.

They furiously upped the pace on the final climb, forcing Vlasov and Sindel to burn through their energy early, rendering them largely ineffective.

And while Huang Chong was still able to steadily keep Roglič on their wheel as they accelerated, the high-paced climb would certainly drain a significant amount of his stamina, greatly impacting his sprinting ability in the final stage.

With just 2.5 km to the finish, all the breakaway riders, who had been on the attack for almost the entire race, were unsurprisingly caught by the peloton.

At the same time, the road began to narrow as they entered this section.

Huang Chong glanced around, discovering his teammates had either been dropped or pushed to the other side of the main pack. Now, only he and his leader were still together.

As the finish line loomed closer, even though he was just a domestique in the Dauphine, his natural hunter’s instinct took over. He began searching for a path, pulling Roglič with him as they pushed their way to the front.

In the middle of the pack, he turned and gave Roglič a look. They didn’t need words; a single glance was enough to convey their mutual understanding.

Without a word, Huang Chong went to work. In the dense pack, he began furiously pedaling from the saddle, weaving through every available gap. Then, using his own powerful physique, he literally carved a path through the throng, leading his captain swiftly toward the front.

This fight for position was clearly captured by the director in the helicopter, filming from a bird’s-eye view.

So when the feed cut back to the broadcast booth, the live commentator, Steve, was immediately captivated and couldn’t help but cry out:

"Look at the move from the Chinese cyclist right now! Oh, my heavens!!

As they get closer and closer to the finish line, he’s starting to clear a path for his leader through the pack!

But to our viewers all around the world, take a close look at how he’s riding right now.

He’s like a snake, weaving nimbly through the peloton, but he’s also like a rampaging bulldozer, using his pure, physical strength to just muscle aside every rider in front of him!!"

"Honestly, Steve, this is the first time I’ve ever seen an Asian cyclist ride so directly.

Did he really just force a path through the pack with brute strength?

What The Fuck?!

My impression of athletes from Asia has always been that they’re more skilled with technical finesse, like threading a needle, and lack that direct, powerful physicality—

But Huang Chong, at only 65 kg, is somehow pushing all of us Western road cyclists aside.

I’m telling you, that guy’s muscle composition has to be terrifyingly strong!!"

"You know, Jimmy, seeing this, I’m not even interested in speculating or questioning just how strong the cyclist from China is—"

"What do you mean?"

"Because my first reaction is, if I were Primož right now, I’d probably pass out from sheer joy!"

Jimmy nodded emphatically in agreement, his tone turning serious.

"I completely understand what you’re feeling right now, Steve.

If I had a top-tier domestique like that—one who could not only break the wind for me the entire race but could also lead me to the front of the pack at the critical moment and effortlessly find the perfect line for an attack—I’d be over the moon!"