Chapter 337 - 177: All-or-Nothing, Killing the Championship Suspense Early!

Eventually, after Roglič managed to reconnect with Huang Chong, the latter worked tirelessly, immediately starting to pull him toward the finish line with an anaerobic output of nearly 500W. This powerful lead-out allowed the two of them to completely drop the three riders behind them, including Ciccone, leaving them behind by over half a minute as they crossed the finish line first.

And to ensure Roglič maximized his advantage in the general classification, Huang Chong naturally didn’t contest the 10-second time bonus for the stage win. He once again tapped his brakes just before the finish line, handing the victory to his leader.

And so, after Stage 6, Roglič had once again reclaimed the overall leader’s Yellow Jersey, thanks to Huang Chong’s assistance. In that single stage, he had also opened up a 1 minute and 2 second gap on Evenepoel, who had been leading him before the day began.

...

"Holy shit, incredible! Huang Chong is a god among domestiques!"

"Brothers, I know Brother Luo is a veteran of the sport, but for him to get the Yellow Jersey back with such a huge lead, he really ought to bow down and thank Huang Chong, right?!"

"Damn it, with a performance like that, Huang Chong could totally be contending for the overall win himself!!"

"Exactly! I thought he’d blown up early when the chasers caught him in the final kilometer. But looking back now, it’s obvious he slowed down on purpose to wait for Brother Luo, just to give him that massive lead-out in the final 1km—"

"This just makes you want to say: with a domestique like him, what more could you ask for?"

"I really hope Bora Team runs a two-leader strategy at the Tour de France!! I feel like Huang Chong is already just as strong as Brother Luo. Letting him go head-to-head with Pogačar seems like a much better bet!!"

Back in the domestic forums, the fans all breathed a collective sigh of relief seeing Huang Chong help Roglič reclaim the leader’s jersey.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Roglič had essentially locked up the overall victory for this Tour de Dauphine.

He now held a lead of over a minute on second-place Evenepoel.

His lead over the third-place rider and holder of the White Jersey, Jorgenson, was even larger at 1 minute and 40 seconds.

With an advantage that big, it would be utterly outrageous if he still couldn’t secure the overall win.

And with Huang Chong’s assistance, he had successfully won three stages, putting him far ahead in the points classification. The Green Jersey was also secure.

However, being Professional Cyclists, they couldn’t afford to get complacent. Even though Bora Team had the chef prepare a celebratory meal that evening after their rider retook the overall lead, they knew they couldn’t let their guard down.

Because Stage 7 was the Queen Stage of the Tour de Dauphine.

If Roglič were to collapse on this stage, their premature celebration would make them the biggest laughingstock of all the World Tour Teams this year.

「June 8th.」

The Queen Stage arrived, and Roglič’s shoulder injury was still severe.

To ensure Roglič wouldn’t have to move in a way that aggravated his injury, Huang Chong stuffed his own back pockets full of supplies from the very start.

’Too bad the System Space is unusable,’ Huang Chong mused. ’Otherwise, I could carry any amount of supplies.’

Without a doubt, this was the most difficult stage of the Tour de Dauphine.

The stage started in Albertville and ran all the way to the finish at Samoëns 1600.

The "1600" in the name refers to its altitude.

The finish line was located at a renowned ski resort in Samoëns.

The stage’s total distance was relatively short at only 155.3 km, but the total elevation gain was a staggering 4,316 meters.

The entire stage also featured three First Category Climbs and a summit finish on an HC Level climb.

This level of difficulty was so insane that even the Tour de France itself wouldn’t necessarily feature such a brutal stage—

The Tour de Dauphine’s nickname, the "Little Tour de France," was truly well-deserved.

It was completely worthy of the name.

To be honest, even Huang Chong felt his legs go a bit weak thinking about this stage before the race.

’If I didn’t have my cheat system to optimize my body to its current state,’ he reflected, ’with the physique I had in my past life, I probably couldn’t have finished this stage even with a lifetime of training.’

The difficulty was just immense.

It’s worth noting that before even reaching the first First Category Climb, the stage featured a long, gradual ascent that wasn’t even officially categorized.

It was 5 km long with an average gradient of 6%.

A climb of that difficulty, and it didn’t even award any official climbing points.

The first First Category Climb, the Col des Saisies, came at the 33.5 km mark. It was a high mountain climb frequently featured in the Tour de France.

It was 9.5 km long, with an average gradient of 6.5% and a maximum gradient of 9.2%.

The second First Category Climb, the Arâches Climb, was at the 86 km mark.

It was shorter, at 6.2 km, but its average gradient was significantly steeper at 7.4%, with a maximum gradient reaching 10.4%.

The third First Category Climb was the La Ramaz Pass, a full 14 km long with an average gradient of 7% and sections hitting a maximum of 12%.

’Honestly, I have no idea how the organizers categorize these climbs,’ Huang Chong thought. ’For a climb this difficult to not even be an HC Level climb is baffling.’

As for the final climb to Samoëns, that was just monstrous.

9.9 km long, an average gradient of 9%, and a maximum gradient of 11.5%—

Such a difficult course would be simply unimaginable back home.

After the race started, a breakaway group of an unprecedented size—a full 12 riders—was the first to launch an attack.

This was because the stage represented the last chance to fight for the King of the Mountains’ Polka Dot Jersey.

If a single rider managed to collect all the points from the three First Category Climbs, the ownership of the Polka Dot Jersey would be decided, completely unchallengeable.

Among these breakaway riders was the Astana Cyclist, Lorenzo Fortunato.