Chapter 423 - 205: Establishing an Overall Advantage, Be Wary of the Coming Stage

The long concrete road stretched on, its end nowhere in sight.

Like a great dragon coiled around a high mountain, it snaked and wound, endlessly torturing all the cyclists struggling up its steep grade.

This steep slope was a major hurdle for every Professional Cyclist, a brutal test of their will to compete.

The Lotto Team’s young rider, Van Eetvelt, was without a doubt the one in the lead group most willing to face the challenge and push his limits.

But daring to take on such a challenge always meant facing one of two starkly different outcomes.

Either success, basking in the passionate and wild cheers of the fans—

Or failure, enduring the pain and regret alone.

However, after just two hundred meters of furious pursuit, Van Eetvelt felt his heart rate completely explode.

At the same time, he could clearly feel his legs instantly become as heavy as if two giant sandbags had been strapped to them.

Every pedal stroke that followed was strained, heavy, and tight—

He knew he would definitely be able to crest the mountain before him and reach the finish line of today’s stage soon.

But all he could do now was watch helplessly as the competitor ahead of him continuously widened the gap.

Meanwhile, the five riders behind him, whom he had previously managed to drop, were now furiously closing in.

Then, once the five-man train of Almeida, Mas, Gall, Riccitello, and Landa caught up to him, he quickly slotted in at the back to catch their draft, trying to hang on. But his impulsive response to Huang Chong a moment ago had made it clear: he couldn’t keep up, no matter what.

This was the cruel reality of completely bonking on a steep climb.

Once you ride beyond your limits, there’s no time to recover!

"My God, Van Eetvelt is done for!!

In just two hundred meters of responding to Huang Chong’s attack on the steep slope, he completely drained every last bit of his energy!!

You have to say, this is the brutal price a young rider pays for being overconfident in his own abilities!!"

"Yes, I admire Van Eetvelt for responding head-on to Huang Chong just now, but he clearly underestimated a Chinese cyclist who has been forged in the crucible of the Tour de France.

I think he’ll remember the painful feeling of this stage for a long time and use this lesson as fuel for his growth and improvement.

But for now, we can only hope he can get over this difficult concrete climb soon to avoid being passed by even more riders from behind!!"

Watching Van Eetvelt completely blow up on the climb, the two commentators from European Sports weren’t gloating at all; instead, their voices were filled with deep regret for the young rider.

In reality, though, Van Eetvelt, just like Huang Chong, was a newcomer who had only recently joined a World Tour Team.

It’s just that the gap between them had clearly been magnified immensely compared to the UAE Tour at the start of the season!

After Van Eetvelt was dropped, Huang Chong naturally realized it immediately.

When someone responded to his attack on such a difficult climb, he of course had to keep looking back to monitor his rival’s condition.

But the final outcome was far less fraught than he had imagined; he quickly dropped all his rivals.

And so, with no more hesitation, he began to push at his maximum threshold, seated, powering up the steep slope at high speed.

As he rode at nearly 470 watts, none of the team leaders behind him could match his power output.

Urged on by the wild cheers of the Spanish fans, as well as the many Chinese fans who had come just to see him race, he was the first to complete the entire concrete climb. As he returned to the asphalt for the final two kilometers, the difficulty dropped instantly.

The average gradients for the final 1.6 kilometers were 6% and 7.6%, respectively.

It was still a very difficult climb, but for Huang Chong, who had now opened a gap of nearly a minute and a half on the riders behind, there was almost no pressure.

With such a large gap, combined with the slow speeds on the climb, the riders behind couldn’t generate any significant drafting effect even by working together.

Therefore, even after the group of team leaders, headed by Almeida, reached the asphalt, the time gap to Huang Chong only continued to grow.

1km to the finish.

By the time Huang Chong passed under the 1km-to-go banner, he had already extended his lead to two minutes.

This prompted Aldag, who was following behind him, and the entire Red Bull Bora Team in the team car to start cheering and celebrating early.

"Nice!! Huang, hold your current power!

Only 1km of the race left! You’ve already opened up a gap of more than two minutes on the other teams’ leaders.

After this stage, you’re going to have a massive advantage!!"

Huang Chong heard Aldag’s excited voice.

But at that moment, he was also nearing his personal limit, so he didn’t bother to reply.

The sweat collecting on his cheeks and dripping from his chin was like water streaming from the eaves of a house in a downpour, forming continuous lines.

It was a clear sign of the immense power he had put out during his solo attack over the final 2.6 kilometers to the finish.