Chapter 372 - 188: When I Chased the Sun, I Discovered I Would Really Be Burned

Aldag’s prediction was extremely accurate.

In fact, the attacks launched by the other teams came even earlier than he had anticipated.

On July 12th, the thirteenth race day of the Tour de France began.

The riders would travel from Agen all the way to Pau, located in the Pyrenees Mountain Area.

The total distance was 165.3 km, with a total elevation gain of 1,884 meters.

Although this stage was the last flat stage of the second week of the Tour de France, the entire route was actually a series of rolling hills with short, steep climbs.

Between the 116 km and 142 km marks, it even included two Fourth Category Climbs: the Côte de Blachon and the Côte de Simacourbe.

The former was 1.6 km long with an average gradient of 6.1% and a maximum gradient of up to 8.5%.

The latter was 1.8 km long, with an average gradient of 6.5% and a maximum gradient of 7.4%.

Although neither climb was particularly difficult, the race began with an aggressive move. With Roglič having announced his withdrawal, UAE Team, who had yet to secure the overall Yellow Jersey or a single stage win, immediately sent the increasingly in-form Adam Yates to join the day’s breakaway group.

Huang Chong, of course, knew that when UAE Team sent Adam Yates into the breakaway, the move was aimed directly at him.

The problem was, even though he knew they were trying to take his overall Yellow Jersey, there was practically nothing he could do about it.

Red Bull Bora Team was already short on classics-style riders, and with Sindel as their only remaining climbing domestique, Aldag could only make a token gesture. He sent Sobrero, a lead-out man for flat stages who was slightly better at climbing, to also join the breakaway and see if he could mark Adam Yates.

And just as UAE Team began to actively change the pace on the flat stage, seemingly trying to make something happen, a piece of news that could only be described as a disaster for them broke when the race was about halfway through.

Ayuso, their rider currently sitting tenth in the general classification, was feeling unwell and had to abandon the race mid-stage!

That’s Ayuso for you.

A top young rider in one-week races.

But in Grand Tours, he never disappoints the other general classification teams.

When this news broke, it didn’t have much of an impact on Huang Chong and Red Bull Bora Team.

With their current roster, having already lost two top climbers before the real high-mountain stages even began, the overall victory was definitely out of reach anyway.

His mission now was simply to hold onto the Yellow Jersey for a few more days, and then try his best to fight for a final podium spot and the best young rider’s White Jersey.

However, for Trek, Ineos, Quick Step, Israel-Premier Tech, Visma, and even Decathlon and Bahrain Victory Team, the successive withdrawals of Roglič and Ayuso in Stage 13 changed the nature of the race completely.

Both riders had been in the top ten of the general classification just yesterday. With them now out of the picture, all these teams had riders currently within ten minutes of Huang Chong who could now make a push to break into the top ten.

After all, in a race like the Tour de France, while the overall victory is the ultimate success, there can only be one winner.

And while for Vingegaard and Pogačar anything less than victory is considered a failure, for the other general classification riders, finishing in the top ten is incredibly important.

Of course, another focus of this year’s Tour de France was the battle between Evenepoel, C. Rodríguez, and Huang Chong. The three of them were vying for the best young rider’s White Jersey and the third and final podium spot behind Vingegaard and Pogačar.

This was especially true for Evenepoel and Huang Chong, both of whom were participating in the Tour de France for the first time.

Whoever managed to secure third place overall would take home both the White Jersey and the last spot on the podium.

For them, this was undoubtedly the most crucial core mission.

Not only would it legitimize their status as the next best riders after Pogačar and Vingegaard, but it would also prove they had the top-tier strength to compete in Grand Tours.

And if they actually achieved this, their market value would surely skyrocket after the Tour de France, making them the most sought-after star riders on the entire World Tour.

In the end, it was Visma Team that mounted a direct response to Adam Yates’s breakaway attack.

They had the most complete support squad among the major GC teams, and their lineup was perfectly suited for a flat stage like today’s. Consequently, Van Aert and Laporte went directly to the front of the peloton and began chasing down the breakaway group.

However, the breakaway group was too large today, with a full twenty riders.

It also included top-tier flat-stage specialists like van der Poel and de Lie.

So even though Visma’s efforts allowed the peloton to successfully catch the breakaway riders before the finish line, everyone had expended a great deal of energy.

In the end, after the breakaway group was swallowed up by the peloton, it came down to a final flat sprint between the top sprinters.

The general classification contenders moved out of the way early, so their standings were unaffected.

Philipsen from Alpecin Team, whose flat sprinting ability was simply too strong, took another victory in Stage 13.

As for Van Aert, who lost by half a wheel’s length, he was forced to launch his attack early because his teammate Laporte ran out of steam 300 meters from the finish line. He ended up crossing the line in second place.

Meanwhile, Girmay, wearing the Green Jersey, had an average performance on this stage, finishing only in fourth place.

However, he had already won three stages, and with Philipsen having been penalized once, his lead in the sprint points classification was so large that it was basically impossible for him to lose the green jersey.