Chapter 366 186: Relentless Pursuit, Showdown at Le Lioran

"The UAE Team is definitely going to change the pace on the next two consecutive climbs. While you still have time, eat your gels and drink your water."

"Once the climb starts, there won't be any time to refuel."

"Also, before the climb begins, make sure you're with Primož. You two need to get into a good position in the bunch beforehand."

"The UAE domestiques will all push to the front on the climb."

"Visma Team will stick right on them."

"You need to stay with at least one of them—Tadej or Jonas."

"If you really can't keep up with Tadej, at least stick with Jonas."

Just before the ascent, the instructions from Aldag came through on Huang Chong's team radio.

He quickly pulled the energy gels from his back pockets and began to wolf them down, chugging water at the same time.

On the steep slopes ahead, the water bottles had to be emptied. Any extra weight would be a huge burden on the climb.

If he didn't drink now, he'd have to hold out until the next official feed zone for a chance to rehydrate.

However, just as everyone was frantically refueling on a descent through a small town, with 46km left to the finish, Van Aert from the Visma Team went straight onto the shoulder of the road and crashed.

And just as all the teams finished refueling before the ascent, UAE Team's Sivakov, as expected, took over from his teammate Wellens and began to pick up the pace on the climb up Néronne Pass.

Accelerating on a climb with an average gradient of 8.0% made for a brutal selection.

Huge numbers of riders who had stayed with the main group until this point were immediately gapped and dropped.

At the same time, the riders in the earlier breakaway were reeled in one by one.

By the time the main group was led over Néronne Pass and on toward the Mary Mountain climb, only three riders from the original breakaway remained out front: Ben Healy, Carapaz, and Lascano.

The Mary Mountain climb was 5.3km long in total, with the first 3km being relatively easy.

So Sivakov hammered away at the front of the group, setting a suicidal pace that quickly brought the gap to the breakaway riders—whose faces were already masks of pain—to under a minute.

Then, at a turn 2.5km from the summit, Sivakov launched one last pull out of the saddle before peeling off and dropping back.

During that powerful surge on a 9% average gradient, it wasn't just the average climbers who couldn't hang on; even his own teammate Ayuso and the last domestique for the Red Bull Bora Team, Sindel, began to fall away.

But the other two climbing domestiques from the UAE Team were on another level entirely.

Adam Yates and Almeida seamlessly took control of the main group, continuing to accelerate out of the saddle as they sped toward the summit of Mary Mountain.

At that moment, on the brutally difficult slopes of Mary Mountain, the roadsides were packed with fans. As the main group of GC contenders approached, the crowd's excitement boiled over, and they erupted in a frenzy of cheers.

Adam Yates was out of the saddle the entire way, forcing the three breakaway riders ahead—who had just hit a section with a 13% gradient—to finally surrender.

Carapaz was the first to be caught.

Then, with 1.5km left to the summit, both Ben Healy and Lascano were swallowed up by the group.

Throughout this climb, Huang Chong stuck to Vingegaard's wheel. He glanced back and saw that the lead group had, as expected, become pitifully small.

Nearly all the weaker climbers had been shelled by the pace set by UAE's Adam Yates.

For example, Movistar Team's climbing leader, Mas, and Trek Team's climbing leader, Ciccone, had both been dropped and were nowhere in sight.

The riders remaining in the lead group were the same familiar faces who had managed to hang on during the final climb up Galibier Mountain.

UAE still had three riders left: Pogačar, Almeida, and Adam Yates.

Vismar had Jorgenson and Vingegaard.

Quick Step had Landa and Evenepoel.

Ineos had C. Rodríguez and Thomas.

Red Bull Bora, of course, had Huang Chong and Roglič.

The five big GC teams were truly in a class of their own, something fans across the globe could have easily predicted.

But as the summit neared, Jorgenson, Thomas, and Landa began to crack.

And with only 650 meters to the summit, Pogačar decisively launched an attack, getting out of the saddle!

His explosive power was simply astonishing.

Pushing over a thousand watts, Vingegaard couldn't even stay on his wheel for the first few pedal strokes.

Huang Chong could have kept up, but he chose not to force the issue.

'This wasn't a stage where he could force a chase; the terrain was completely different from Galibier Mountain. After the Mary Mountain climb, there were still two more climbs to go. If he used up all his energy now, he'd have a hard time making it to the finish line.'

So, he just stuck to Vingegaard's wheel, letting Pogačar instantly open a gap of nearly 30 meters on them.

On a steep 14% gradient, a gap that large translated to a lead of more than ten seconds.

So Pogačar had once again successfully dropped them on the steep slope and gone into solo mode.

Huang Chong stuck grimly to Vingegaard. It was only after cresting the summit that he glanced back and saw that Roglič was already almost 20 meters behind him.

Evenepoel, meanwhile, was 30 meters back.

'When it came to short, steep climbs, he was definitely the weakest of the five.'