Chapter 336 - 177: An All-or-Nothing Gamble to Kill the Championship Suspense

After this climb, there were no more difficult descents on the remaining route.

The route then consisted of long, gradual climbs all the way to the 161-kilometer mark.

After that came the final showdown: an 11.2-kilometer, HC Level climb.

However, before starting the climb, Huang Chong remembered to pass the supplies on his back to Brother Luo. They both took their final provisions.

At this point, the gap between the peloton and the breakaway group had shrunk to less than a minute and a half.

But as the breakaway group hit the final climb, Cort and Grégoire, both capable of a stage win, were the first to accelerate, immediately dropping the rest of the riders in their group.

Meanwhile, the Quick Step domestique who had been controlling the pace all this time completely blew up right as they entered the HC Level climb.

Seeing this, the Ineos Grenadiers Team immediately took control of the pace. Their domestique, Laurens De Plus, began to lead the chase with their team leader, Rodríguez, in tow.

The difficulty of the HC Level climb was undeniable. As soon as the peloton hit the slope, large numbers of riders began to get dropped.

One to two kilometers later, they hit the steepest section of the climb at a 10.8% gradient, and the peloton was instantly whittled down to just thirty or forty riders.

Huang Chong didn’t rush to make a move for Roglič on the steep slope.

The pace set by the Ineos Grenadiers Team was blistering, and with Vlasov and Sindel still able to take pulls at the front, attacking too early would be pointless.

However, with only 5 kilometers left to the finish, De Plus of the Ineos Grenadiers Team launched the first major attack. Without a moment’s hesitation, Huang Chong broke from the peloton and latched onto his wheel.

Seeing his immediate reaction, the coaching staff of the various teams were all stunned.

After his performance in the ITT stage, his overall ranking was no longer outside the top twenty; he had climbed to around tenth place.

He was now only 2 minutes and 13 seconds behind the leader, Evenepoel.

If they let him get away on an HC Level climb, he could absolutely overturn the general classification.

The other teams were all well aware of Huang Chong’s climbing ability. Almost simultaneously, team directors from every squad were on the radio, ordering their leaders to accelerate and chase him down.

As a result, the pace of the peloton was forced to increase immediately.

But Huang Chong’s threshold power was simply too high.

Pushing 450 watts on a steep 8.0% gradient, he could still maintain an average speed of nearly 20 km/h.

De Plus got out of his saddle and struggled to hold the wheel for a short distance before giving up and dropping back to the peloton.

Seeing his pursuer get dropped, Huang Chong wasn’t about to miss the opportunity. He decisively got out of the saddle again, instantly stretching his gap over the peloton to more than twenty seconds.

At the same time, he caught and passed Grégoire, the last remaining rider from the breakaway, who had launched his own attack from the foot of the climb.

To Huang Chong’s horror, Grégoire, who had launched a solo attack on this final HC Level climb, was suffering from a massive nosebleed that had stained half his face red.

It was a stark reminder of just how intense the climbs on the World Tour could be.

But he had no time to feel sorry for anyone else; professional sports were just that cruel.

After passing the other rider, he accelerated again, continuing his solo breakaway toward the summit.

But without a doubt, the other teams weren’t going to let him go easily.

With three kilometers remaining, Ciccone from the Trek Team chose a corner to launch a decisive attack from the peloton, getting out of his saddle to accelerate.

This stage was well-suited to Ciccone. The climbs in the first 160 kilometers weren’t overly difficult, so he had saved enough energy to unleash on the final HC Level climb.

Only Roglič, Jorgenson of the Visma Team, and Derrick Gee of the Israel-Premier Tech Team could follow his attack. All the other leaders—whether it was Rodríguez of Ineos or Evenepoel of the Quick Step Team—were unable to respond and were instantly gapped!

"Huang, Primož has broken away to chase. He’s in a group with Ciccone, Jorgenson, and Derrick Gee.

Maintain your current power and rhythm. Wear down the other leaders as much as you can until the final kilometer.

Then you need to ease off the pace slightly, let Primož link up with you, and give him one last lead-out before the finish!"

Hearing Aldag’s message right then felt to Huang Chong like being the number two driver in F1, forced to yield to the number one driver when a victory was within reach.

But that’s professional road cycling. Unless a dual-leader strategy was established before the race, he had to follow the team’s orders, no matter how great his advantage.

Huang Chong could only follow Aldag’s instructions. He kept his power at 450 watts, and with just one kilometer to go, he intentionally eased his pace, allowing Roglič and the others to catch him.

But Brother Luo was no slouch. His ability on long, steep climbs was truly formidable.

Aside from Pogačar and Vingegaard, he feared almost no one.

Moreover, he had been sitting in Ciccone’s slipstream the whole time. As they neared Huang Chong, he immediately got out of the saddle and, with a few powerful pedal strokes, surged past Ciccone.

As his teammate drew near, Huang Chong kept looking back to check on the situation. The instant Roglič surged forward, he began to accelerate.

It was just like a sprint relay: you don’t wait for your teammate to put the baton in your hand to start running. You accelerate beforehand, so that by the time they catch up, you’re both already at full speed.