Chapter 374 - 188: When I Chased the Sun, I Found I’d Truly Get Burned (Part 3)

Riding right behind Pogačar, Huang Chong could only watch the scene unfold with a mix of awe and envy.

’With the UAE Team’s lineup this year, there’s no way I can win at my current level!’

Even if the entire Red Bull Bora team had stayed intact until the end, with Roglič as his domestique, he likely still wouldn’t have been able to beat Pogačar.

After the Tourmalet climb, during the long descent, Politt had helped the main group of GC contenders close the gap to the breakaway from 3 minutes and 38 seconds down to just 1 minute and 25 seconds.

Only when they reached the Category 2 climb, Angizan Mountain, did he finally pull off the front, handing over pacemaking duties to his teammate, Soler.

But even so, his performance had been nothing short of outstanding.

For a flat-terrain domestique to lead the pack through an entire HC Level climb and claw back over two minutes on the breakaway—his ability was the real deal.

Huang Chong even began to wonder if the guy had been deliberately hiding his strength in their other races this year, like Crossing Flanders and the Frankfurt Grand Prix.

At this moment, only five riders remained in the breakaway group up front.

They were Michał Kwiatkowski from the Ineos Grenadiers Team.

David Gaudu from the FDJ Team.

Ben Healy from the EF Education Team.

Oier Lascano from the Movistar Team.

And Louis Meintjes from the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux Team.

Among them, Ben Healy of the EF Education Team undoubtedly had the strongest desire to win from the breakaway.

This was because he was currently ranked 15th in the general classification, only 12 minutes and 8 seconds behind the leader, Huang Chong.

But Soler’s pacemaking kept the speed of the main group on par with the breakaway.

Whenever the breakaway accelerated, he accelerated in response, his main strategy being to wear them down.

Finally, after leading the main group past the Category 2 climb point and onto the final HC Level climb, with only 10km to the finish, he finally blew up and dropped from the peloton.

But the UAE Team was determined to keep attacking today. The moment Soler dropped back, Sivakov immediately took to the front to continue leading the main group’s pursuit.

The first 7km of the final HC climb was the most difficult section. With Sivakov setting a relentless pace, conserving no energy, Meintjes from the breakaway was the first to be reeled in.

Sivakov pulled for less than two more kilometers. Then, as Ben Healy up front dropped the other breakaway riders to go solo, the UAE Team deployed their super-domestique for the climbs, Almeida. He launched the pursuit on a section with a punishing 12% gradient.

However, with 7.2km remaining to the finish, Huang Chong, who had long since lost his only climbing domestique, watched as UAE Team’s Adam Yates suddenly launched a solo attack.

The scene was all too familiar to him.

Because he had seen this very race before.

He normally couldn’t recall the details, but seeing Adam Yates attack now, the memory came flooding back as if reborn in his mind.

But even knowing that Yates was attacking first to set up Pogačar’s follow-up—a tactic to give his leader one final boost—he was powerless to stop it.

Because his only climbing domestique, Sindel, had been dropped and was long gone on this HC Level climb.

If he tried to follow the attack himself, he would just blow up completely on the climb.

In the end, it was the Visma Team who responded. With just 6.8km to go, they sent out their last climbing domestique, Jorgenson, to chase Adam Yates.

But Jorgenson’s pacemaking was far from ideal.

Not only was he failing to lead the main group and close the gap to Adam Yates, but the time difference was actually increasing, stretching to 35 seconds in the blink of an eye.

Ultimately, all the GC contenders could do was watch helplessly as Adam Yates danced on his pedals, riding further and further away up the steep slope. He quickly caught the last breakaway rider still soloing up ahead, Ben Healy. Then, with just 4.6km to the finish, Pogačar, who had been waiting all stage, finally launched his own attack!

Seeing Pogačar get out of the saddle and attack, Vingegaard was naturally the first to respond.

He was followed immediately by Huang Chong and Evenepoel.

However, Vingegaard’s explosive kick wasn’t quite enough, and Pogačar instantly pulled away, opening a gap.

Seeing this, Huang Chong gritted his teeth, decisively upped his power, and went after Pogačar alone!

He wasn’t confident he could keep the Yellow Jersey all the way to the end, but he couldn’t bring himself to just settle for a third-place podium finish.

Especially since he still had a 44-second lead over Vingegaard in the GC.

So he decided to use his own explosive power to stick to Pogačar’s wheel as much as possible, latching onto his slipstream to get closer to the finish and hopefully gain more time on Vingegaard.

His response to Pogačar’s attack immediately sent gasps of astonishment through cycling fans watching the live Tour de France broadcast all over the world.

Some applauded, shouting their praises—

While others clenched their fists, feeling that his direct response to Pogačar was far too aggressive—

On European Sports, the commentator, Steve, saw that only Huang Chong was able to follow Pogačar and couldn’t help but shout excitedly: