Chapter 441: Since We're Taking the Initiative, We Must Gain a Sufficiently Large Lead

Chapter 441: Chapter 211: Since We’re Taking the Initiative, We Must Gain a Sufficiently Large Lead

It’s worth mentioning that for today’s stage, the Red Bull Bora Team also sent Martínez into the breakaway.

Unfortunately, his form in this Vuelta a España had been mediocre, and he was dropped early on.

In the end, his finishing time was a mere 18 seconds ahead of the peloton.

He was nearly four minutes behind the stage winner, which just went to show how poor his form was.

As for the top ten in the general classification, they all finished in the peloton with no time gaps, so there were no changes to the standings.

「August 29th.」

The twelfth stage of the Vuelta a España began.

The stage ran from Ourense to the Mansaneda Mountain Resort, covering a total distance of 137.5 kilometers.

This was undoubtedly one of the shortest stages in the Vuelta a España in terms of total distance.

It was officially classified as a hilly stage, yet the total elevation gain reached 3,088 meters.

The entire route consisted of rolling hills, but the individual climbs were quite short.

Aside from the final summit finish climb, none of the short climbs in the first 120 kilometers were officially categorized or awarded points.

Based on the terrain alone, this was actually a stage tailor-made for Huang Chong.

After all, a summit finish is the perfect opportunity for a general classification contender like him to launch a solo attack and secure a victory.

However, after weighing the pros and cons, Aldag decided to let this stage go. He spoke to Huang Chong directly:

“Huang, we’re making a tactical decision to sit back on Stage 12. Just ride steadily to the finish.”

“Tomorrow’s Stage 13 is a much better place to make our move than this stage’s summit finish.”

“Looking at the entire second week of the Vuelta, only Stage 13 and Stage 15 on the final day are stages where you’ll need to defend your GC lead.”

“I expect other teams will most likely attack on tomorrow’s stage. You need to be ready to defend and counter at a moment’s notice!”

Of course, Huang Chong had already studied the profiles for all the stages in the second week.

He was well aware that Stage 13 also featured a summit finish.

Although both stages culminated in a First Category climb, their respective difficulties were vastly different.

The First Category summit finish on Stage 12 was 15.9 kilometers long, but its average gradient was only 4.1%, with a maximum gradient of just 7.3%.

It was a long, gradual drag.

On a climb like this, while Huang Chong was confident he could win with an attack, it was far more likely to end in a sprint finish.

It was nearly impossible to drop other riders on a long, gradual climb.

It would be incredibly difficult to create a significant gap, making the effort not worth the reward.

The First Category summit finish on Stage 13, however, was a completely different beast.

Though only half the length of the Stage 12 climb at 7.5 kilometers, its average gradient was a steep 9%.

The first two kilometers were a gentle 2.9%, which meant the average gradient for the final 5.5 kilometers would be a brutal 13.1%.

Furthermore, the final kilometer before the summit—the steepest part of the climb—featured a terrifyingly high average gradient of 14.3%.

On a brutally steep climb like that, Huang Chong knew his ability would allow him to drop everyone and build an even bigger lead in the general classification. That was why Aldag’s strategy made perfect sense. If you’re going to take the initiative and attack, you have to make it count and secure a significant lead. After all, riding a three-week Grand Tour is exhausting. Opportunities to attack are limited, and the team had to capitalize on every single one Huang Chong had.

They had finished second in both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France this year, failing to win the overall title.

Now, holding a huge advantage in the Vuelta a España, they were determined to take the overall victory.