Chapter 333 - 176: Overall Standings Overturned, New Suspense for the Championship

’Even after going all out, he was still 16 seconds behind him. How was that even possible?’

All he could do was return to Germany and continue to train hard, striving to surpass him in the future.

Not long after Eve finished, Roglič, the last rider to start, also completed the race.

Without a doubt, Roglič’s time trial ability was not poor; it was even among the best in the world.

But the gap between him and Evenepoel still made Huang Chong, who had just been forced to relinquish the top spot, feel a wave of despair.

Because Brother Luo’s final average speed was 48.594 km/h, and his total time was a full 39.18 seconds behind Eve.

This meant that even though he had fought with all his might to help Roglič build a 34-second lead in the first two stages, after today’s ITT stage, Evenepoel had completely overturned it.

So, at the end of Stage 4, not only had Roglič lost the overall leader’s Yellow Jersey he had worn for two days, but he was now also 5.18 seconds behind Evenepoel—

’All that effort for nothing!’

...

"Holy shit, Eve is insane! His ITT ability is just way too overpowered, isn’t it?"

"Brother Luo is one of the world’s top time trialists, but even with a 34-second lead in the GC, he still got overturned in one go—"

"He’s not going to repeat the tragedy of the 2020 Tour de France time trial, is he?"

"Damn, Brother Luo is really getting old!! Huang Chong worked so damn hard in the first two stages to build that lead for him, and it’s just gone. Is he just not fated to win a championship?"

"Bora Team should really think about switching their Core Commander. Huang Chong took second in this stage, only behind Eve. If Bora Team has any brains, they should make Huang Chong their number one leader for the Tour de France!!!"

Back in China, as Stage 4 concluded, the fans’ complaints rapidly flooded every cycling-related website, including the comment sections of Bora Team’s various official accounts.

Among Bora fans worldwide, the idea of building the Tour de France team around Huang Chong also began to gain traction.

But in reality, this news had not yet reached the Bora Team.

Of course, when Aldag and Denke saw Roglič’s GC lead get overturned after the race, their expressions did turn grim.

’Damn it, Evenepoel is just too ridiculous!!’

To be able to close a half-minute gap in an ITT and throw the general classification into flux again... it truly left them speechless.

"I know everyone gave their all in the race, but today’s result was somewhat disappointing.

Luckily, the race isn’t over, and the Queen Stage of the Tour de Dauphine has not yet arrived.

We still have plenty of opportunities to turn the tables on Remco!

But in the upcoming stages, we must launch sufficiently powerful attacks on the more difficult climbs to snatch back the victory.

Huang, I hope you can continue to lead Primož and complete this comeback!"

Hearing Aldag continue to put pressure on him after the race, while not daring to say such things to the team’s absolute core, Roglič, made Huang Chong feel a bit resentful.

’Damn it, I worked my ass off to build that lead, and now the team leader has lost it all himself. It’s like all the responsibility is still on my shoulders—’

But he knew that besides himself, Bora Team couldn’t count on anyone else.

Especially on the upcoming super-difficult climbs, Vlasov and Sindel were absolutely incapable of pulling for Roglič. He could only suppress his temper, nod, and focus on the bigger picture, saying concisely:

"I’ll do my best!"

However, just as they had made their new tactical arrangements, the race in Stage 5 took another dramatic turn.

On the fifth day of racing, the riders rode from Amplepuis to Saint-Priest.

The weather had turned from sunny to rainy. As the peloton was navigating a gentle descent on a forest road with about 20km left to the finish, the road was slick with standing water, and strong winds had blown leaves all over the pavement.

This resulted in a massive crash in the peloton, with dozens of riders getting caught up in it. It was a scene of utter carnage!

Huang Chong, who was in the peloton and still pulling for Roglič at full tilt, was unsurprisingly tripped up by Brother Luo from behind and also got caught in the crash.

Fortunately, the sides of the road were covered in thick grass. The moment he lost his balance, Huang Chong unclipped his cleats and rolled into the grassy verge, avoiding getting scraped up by the asphalt.

Roglič also fell off the side of the road and didn’t suffer any serious injuries.

That was the only good news.

However, in this crash, a total of eight riders were seriously injured and had to withdraw from the race.

They were Laurens Huys of Arkéa Team.

Axel Mariault of Cofidis Team.

Rémy Rochas of FDJ Team.

Dylan Van Baarle and Steven Kruijswijk of Visma Team.

Adne Holter of Uno-X Team.

Milan Menten of Lotto Team.

And Luke Durbridge of Jieke Team.

It was obvious that Visma Team was having the worst luck this year, with far too many riders crashing out—

Finally, after such a large-scale crash, the stage was immediately neutralized by the race organizers. All riders gathered at a regrouping point, and after a short break, they were led by the commissaire’s car to the finish line with a neutralized result, meaning the stage results were cancelled.

...