Chapter 414 - 202: Rising From Where One Falls, an Astonishing Time Trial Level

Once the complete roster for the Vuelta a España was finalized, Huang Chong took another look at all the participating teams.

In addition to the eighteen World Tour Teams, just like at the Tour de France, there were four wild card teams. However, their selection differed from the Tour, which only allows participation from the top four Pro Level teams based on UCI points.

Among the four wild card teams at the Vuelta, Israel-Premier Tech and the Lotto Team were participating again. The other two spots for Professional Teams went to local Spanish teams.

They were the Euskaltel-Euskadi Team (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and the Kern Pharma Team (Equipo Kern Pharma).

Huang Chong was somewhat familiar with the former, but he really didn’t know much about the latter.

All he knew was that the Kern Pharma Team, like the World Tour’s Jieke Team, had their road bikes—the Propel ADV SL—sponsored by Giant.

’But not being familiar with the team doesn’t matter anyway.’

’In any case, it’s not like some top-tier Climber is going to pop out of nowhere and drop me—the biggest favorite to win—especially in a Vuelta that even the other top dogs are skipping—’

A few days ahead of schedule, he traveled with the team to the airport, heading for the starting city of the Vuelta a España.

This year’s Vuelta a España, like the Tour de France, would begin its first few stages in a neighboring country.

The first three stages of the Vuelta, however, were set to start very close to Spain, in Portugal’s capital: Lisbon.

For Huang Chong, holding the first race day and team presentation ceremony in Lisbon had no real impact, aside from the increased travel distance (it was over two thousand kilometers from the Red Bull Bora Team Headquarters).

After all, Portugal was a completely unfamiliar country to him.

His entire knowledge of Portugal was limited to two of its native celebrities.

One, of course, was the world-famous soccer superstar: Cristiano Ronaldo.

The other was a Portuguese poet whose work he had read in college: Fernando Pessoa.

However, after actually arriving in Lisbon, he discovered that this seaside city, a perfect vacation spot, had truly beautiful natural scenery.

It was situated on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, something that, for him as someone from China, was undoubtedly a novel and almost unimaginable experience.

After all, if he hadn’t become a World Tour Cyclist, like in his past life, the only ocean he might have ever seen would have been at Wenzhou Dongtou, the closest coastal area in a straight line from his hometown of Xianyun County—

As for the Atlantic scenery right here in Lisbon, he could have lived his entire life without ever getting a chance to see it.

The first three stages of this year’s Vuelta a España were all held within Portugal.

The first day of racing was an ITT stage.

It ran from Lisbon, along the coastal road, all the way to Oeiras, covering a total distance of only 12 kilometers.

Furthermore, it was an incredibly flat road. Aside from a very short 1% climb midway, the rest was either completely flat or a gentle 1% descent.

Therefore, as long as the riders weren’t unlucky enough to be hit by crosswinds from the coast at the start, the race was virtually without difficulty.

After arriving, besides attending press conferences and fan events, Huang Chong naturally also made time to familiarize himself with the course.

However, his main focus was on the two hilly stages, Stage 2 and Stage 3, which were also in Portugal.

These weren’t stages he could contend for. The two hilly stages had very little significant climbing, and with finishes that were either gentle uphill grades or flat sprints, they were definitely a showcase for the sprinters.

Still, it was very important for him to follow the team car and familiarize himself with the route to avoid any accidents on the unfamiliar roads.

After he had personally ridden through the routes for the first three stages, the team presentation ceremony for the Vuelta a España finally began on a Lisbon beach, just one day before the race’s start.

As one of the top favorites to win the title, his Red Bull Bora Team was naturally scheduled to appear late in the presentation order, just before last year’s defending champions, the Visma Team.

They were even scheduled one spot after the UAE Team, which featured local star Almeida and was composed of a whole team of elite support riders.

As the runner-up of the Tour de France and a newly-crowned Olympic champion, Huang Chong’s popularity was, of course, through the roof.

The fact that he was the only Chinese rider dominating the World Tour circuit made him seem even more special.

So, in stark contrast to the grand and formal presentation ceremony of the Tour de France, at the Vuelta’s comparatively simple, almost makeshift, ceremony, he had become the brightest star.

The female host knew how to capitalize on his star power. She went straight into a pre-race interview, smiling as she asked:

"Huang, first of all, congratulations on winning the gold medal in the Paris Olympic Games road race a short while ago!

I watched the entire live broadcast of that race. It was a truly memorable and magnificent victory!

We all know that before the Olympics, at the Tour de France, you also achieved an incredible second place in the general classification.

And now, here at the Vuelta a España, nearly every major media outlet in Europe considers you the top favorite to win this year’s title. What are your thoughts on the media’s predictions?"

Huang Chong heard the question and took a moment to formulate his answer before smiling.

"Thank you for the question. I’d also like to thank all the fans here for coming to our presentation ceremony and for your support.

I think accurately predicting the overall champion of a Grand Tour before the race even begins is an incredibly difficult thing to do.