Chapter 419 203: Either Lose the Red Jersey, or Widen the Gap Again

Their first race day back in Spain was a mountain stage in the truest sense of the word.

The final climb, in particular, was an incredibly difficult First Category summit finish.

Stage 4 would take the riders from Plasencia, Spain, to the famous Viluacas Peak, covering a total distance of 170.5 km with a total elevation gain of 3,519 meters.

This was undoubtedly a stage for the GC contenders.

The stage featured a total of four climbs offering points.

The first climb was a Second Category climb, the Puerto de Cabezabellosa, with its summit at the 23.5 km mark of the stage.

It was 9.2 km long with an average gradient of 5.4%, while its steepest kilometer averaged 7.3%.

The difficulty ramped up sharply for the second climb, a First Category climb called the Alto de Piornal, with its summit at the 54 km mark.

It was 13.8 km long with an average gradient of 5.5%, and its steepest kilometer averaged 6.6%.

The third climb came in the second half of the race. It was a Third Category climb called the Puerto de Miravete, located at the 123 km mark.

This was the easiest climb of the day, spanning 7.9 km with an average gradient of 4.3%, and its steepest kilometer averaging only 5.3%.

But these three climbs, regardless of their difficulty, were clearly designed to wear down and weed out the less proficient climbers.

Any rider who wanted to win this mountain stage, or even take the overall leader's Red Jersey from Huang Chong, had to be the first to conquer the First Category climb at the finish line: Viluacas Peak.

This was without a doubt the most difficult climb of the day.

It was 14.6 km long, with an average gradient of 6.1%.

The average gradient seemed deceptively low, but between the 10 and 13-kilometer marks, a full 3-kilometer stretch had an average gradient exceeding 13%.

At its steepest point, the gradient reached a staggering 24%.

Furthermore, this 3 km section of road was a small path that branched off from the main asphalt road of Viluacas Peak.

Not only was it frighteningly steep, but this stretch, which was essentially a shortcut to the summit, was made entirely of poured concrete, not asphalt like the main road.

On such a steep concrete road, numerous wavy grooves had to be carved into the surface to increase friction and prevent slipping.

This undoubtedly increased the difficulty of the climb even further.

But the Vuelta a España's routes had always been this brutal, seemingly designed for the sadistic pleasure of torturing climbers.

Only someone like Huang Chong, who had deliberately come here to test and temper himself, could face such an incredibly difficult climb—one that could make a person's legs turn to jelly just by hearing about it—and still feel eager to take on the challenge.

'If I want to defeat Pogačar, the demonic trials of the Vuelta a España are an essential part of the journey.'

'I'll even have to participate in next year's Giro d'Italia.'

'Only by repeatedly tempering myself in the Grand Tours will I gain enough race experience to challenge the world's number one road cyclist head-on.'

'If I just rely on my FTP Power to catch up to him, without being forged in the crucible of multiple Grand Tours, trying to beat the Great Demon King who's already won three Tour de France titles... that would be nothing more than a pipe dream.'

After the riders officially returned to Spain, even though it was already Stage 4, the Vuelta a España organizers still had dignitaries give speeches and hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony before the start to mark the beginning of the Spanish stages.

As the wearer of the Red Jersey for the overall lead, Huang Chong was naturally placed at the front of the peloton in the special starting grid for the classification jersey holders, alongside the wearers of the other three jerseys.

He knew very well that by the end of today's stage, he would either lose the overall leader's Red Jersey outright, or he would further extend his time gap over the other teams' GC leaders.

Regardless, on the incredibly difficult 3-kilometer concrete climb in the final phase, even if he didn't attack, the leaders of other teams certainly would.

It all came down to who, after the attrition from the first three difficult climbs, could still withstand the immense pressure of the long, steep slope and emerge victorious.

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