Chapter 376 - 189: The Most Important Tour de France Stage Arrives, All Team Leaders Attack

"Damn, Pogačar is just too strong!"

"Unreal, absolutely unreal!! With that kind of strength, you just have to respect him!!!"

"Huang Chong wore the general classification Yellow Jersey for 12 days after Stage 2, only managing to build an 11-second lead. Then, on the very first mountain-top finish, Pogačar comes and beats him by 45 seconds. I’m just speechless—"

"Looks like when it comes to the real, long, steep mountain stages, Huang Chong still has a pretty big gap to close on the world’s number one!!"

"Looking at today’s stage results, this is a complete repeat of the Liège-Bastogne-Liège script!!"

"Huang Chong’s chances for the overall title in this year’s Tour de France are basically gone. Now it’s a matter of whether he can hold on to second place in the GC!!!"

"If you ask me, second place is dicey too. Today, Huang Chong not only lost the Yellow Jersey but also finished 13 seconds behind Vingegaard. His advantage is down to just half a minute now!"

"That’s true, especially since all the upcoming mountain stages are mountain-top finishes. Vingegaard is clearly a stronger climber than Huang Chong. Even if Huang Chong only loses 10 seconds to him on each of those stages, his half-minute advantage isn’t going to be enough!"

"The worst part is, the final stage this year, Stage 21, isn’t the usual Champs Elysees sprint. It’s a climbing ITT. There’s no way Huang Chong can beat Vingegaard in a climbing ITT!"

"That may be, but for his first year on the World Tour, to be stronger than Eve in the Tour de France and have a shot at the Best Young Rider’s White Jersey and a final podium spot in the GC... that’s already pretty damn good!"

"Definitely. Especially for a rookie, he’s already won two stages in this Tour de France and wore the Yellow Jersey for a full 12 days. You really can’t ask for more!"

"Whoever wins the mountain stages wins the Tour de France. That saying really holds true!!!"

After Stage 14 ended, even though it was the middle of the night back in China, cycling fans in all the major online groups were still fervently discussing the day’s results.

After all, it was the highest level of professional road cycling with a Chinese competitor, and with the Tour de France held during the summer break, the attention it garnered was maxed out.

However, with Huang Chong losing the Yellow Jersey, the fans back home, while able to accept the result, were certainly still feeling a sense of regret.

After all, who wouldn’t want to see a rider from their own country win the overall title at the Tour de France?

Unfortunately, while Huang Chong had fought his way to the Tour de France and already worked so many miracles, trying to replicate Pogačar’s 2020 feat of winning on his debut—and having to beat Pogačar himself to do it—was just too difficult in the end.

You can’t compare the Roglič of 2020 to the Pogačar of 2024.

The latter had lost to Vingegaard for two consecutive years, so he was clearly holding in a lot of pent-up anger this year.

Plus, United Arab Emirates had invested heavily in strengthening their support rider lineup this year, specifically beefing it up for the high-mountain climbs. Given their momentum, it would have been stranger if they *didn’t* win the title.

Therefore, the fact that Huang Chong managed to snipe Pogačar in two mountain stages, S4 and S11, to take the Yellow Jersey early and hold him off for so long, was already the most brilliant Chapter of this entire Tour de France.

In any case, although Vingegaard’s performance in this year’s Tour de France was consistent with his character—always riding with tenacious and unyielding perseverance—his performance still paled in comparison to Huang Chong’s.

But for the remainder of the Tour de France, neither the experts back home nor the fans were very optimistic about Huang Chong’s chances.

At least, in the eyes of most, with today’s stage finished, the general consensus was that Huang Chong could only hope to secure the White Jersey and third place in the GC.

After the stage, despite losing the Yellow Jersey and only finishing third, Huang Chong still got to go to the podium!

Because he still held the honorary White Jersey for the best young rider.

He hadn’t worn the White Jersey before simply because the Yellow Jersey has higher precedence, so the honorary jersey had been passed down to Evenepoel.

Now that Pogačar had taken the Yellow Jersey, Huang Chong would naturally have to wear the White Jersey starting from Stage 15.

But in fact, after today’s stage, Pogačar now held two jerseys.

Because he had continuously earned Level 1 and HC Level climbing points in several mountain stages, his total points now surpassed Abrahamsen, who had previously earned lower-level climbing points through breakaways.

After this stage, he had successfully claimed the King of the Mountains’ Polka Dot Jersey as well.

Even Vingegaard’s climbing points were now higher than Abrahamsen’s.

Therefore, starting from Stage 15, the Polka Dot Jersey would be passed down to Vingegaard, who was second in the climbing classification.

After the race, when Huang Chong went to the podium to receive the honorary White Jersey, he was inevitably interviewed by the race reporters:

"Huang, first of all, congratulations on taking third place in today’s stage.

For a rookie competing in your first Tour de France, I think this is an excellent result on a mountain-top finish stage.

However, at the end of today’s stage, you crossed the line behind Tadej and Jonas. How are you feeling right now?"

Of course, Huang Chong wasn’t feeling great at that moment.

’As a professional athlete, who wants to lose to their rivals!’

But in the final mountain climb, it was basically a one-on-one situation.

If he couldn’t out-ride them, it simply meant he wasn’t strong enough. There was nothing to deny. He managed a smile and said: