Chapter 378 - 190: Grand Showdown Between the Three Jerseys on the Baiye Plateau

12:05 PM.

For the first time, Huang Chong was in the White Jersey’s starting position at the very front of the peloton, beginning today’s race.

After watching the Yellow Jersey start from the front for 12 consecutive stages, swapping into a forward position today gave him a true taste of the race’s dramatic ups and downs.

However, there was no doubt that the four classification jersey wearers starting at the front of the peloton today represented the strongest riders in each category of this year’s Tour de France.

General Classification Yellow Jersey: Pogačar.

Dash King Green Jersey: Girmay.

King of the Mountains Polka Dot Jersey (by proxy): Vingegaard.

Best Young Rider White Jersey: Huang Chong.

As for Evenepoel, who had started at the front of the group wearing the White Jersey by proxy for the first twelve stages, he was now naturally back in the peloton.

And as the starting official fired the starting pistol, the race officially began.

As was customary, the race director’s car would lead a neutralized start for the first three-odd kilometers, giving the riders time and space to get into formation.

Aside from the four classification jersey holders, any riders planning to break away today would push to the front of the group during this neutralized start.

The other riders would arrange themselves by team, ready to accelerate the instant the race director’s car pulled away.

The breakaway group today was clearly stronger than yesterday’s, both in overall talent and in sheer numbers.

Of course, since the stage’s only intermediate sprint point was located at the 37-kilometer mark—just after the first First Category Climb—the sprinters naturally launched an all-out attack from the very beginning.

Wearing the White Jersey, Huang Chong couldn’t possibly stay at the very front of the group once the peloton began to accelerate.

After half a season competing on the World Tour, he was now well accustomed to the pace of top-tier racing.

To conserve energy and for his own safety, he immediately fell back into his team’s formation.

However, the Red Bull Bora Team had sent two domestiques to join the breakaway today, so his support contingent was certainly smaller than usual.

As for Sobrero, sent by Aldag into the breakaway, only heaven knew if he—with the help of his lead-out man, Jungels—could hold on until the final climb up the Baiye Plateau and provide enough support for Huang Chong back in the peloton.

"Huang, this stage is very important for us.

It will determine whether we can secure second place in the final general classification at the end of the Tour de France.

The Visma Team’s objective today is crystal clear, so you must conserve as much energy as possible before you reach the climb to the Baiye Plateau.

Jonas will definitely launch a powerful attack on that climb. You have to find a way to stay with him, no matter what!"

After Huang Chong fell back into the formation, Aldag took advantage of the good radio connection to give him a stern reminder.

Huang Chong understood the pressure for results that Aldag was under as the sports director.

But honestly, ’only I, the athlete, know that it’s impossible to do what he’s asking without some kind of special ability.’

’Vingegaard’s all-out attack on a long, steep climb is practically the same as one from Pogačar.’

’And I’m just supposed to keep up with that?’

’Especially after yesterday’s mountain stage, which nearly killed me. And today’s climbs are even harder and more numerous—’

’What good is a pep talk going to do?’

Although Huang Chong could feel that he was nowhere near as energetic as he’d been at the start of the Tour, he reached back and felt for the special Energy Gel he had deliberately placed in a separate pocket before the race. The touch gave him a small measure of confidence.

He stated bluntly,

"Don’t worry. I’ll do everything I can to defend my current advantage in this stage."

After their brief exchange, Huang Chong was already charging toward the first First Category Climb with the peloton: the Col de Peyresourde.

As the first climb they had to conquer in the stage, it was 7 kilometers long with an average gradient of 7.8% and a maximum gradient of 9.3%.

Those numbers alone were enough to put the climbs in over ninety percent of China’s professional races to shame.

But in the Tour de France, there were four climbs of this difficulty or harder in this single stage—

The summit of the second First Category Climb, the Mente Pass Climb, was located at the 50-kilometer mark.

It was 9.4 kilometers long, with an average gradient of 8.6% and a maximum gradient that reached 10.8%.

Without a doubt, the difficulty of this second climb was another step up.

The summit of the third First Category Climb was at the 65.5-kilometer mark, the Portet-d’Aspet Climb.

Although it was only 4.4 kilometers long, its average gradient was a staggering 9.7%.

And the gradient remained at that difficult level for the entire stretch of road.

It’s worth mentioning that this is also a very famous climb in the history of the Tour de France.

In the 1994 Tour de France, a rider named Fabio Casartelli had a tragic accident on this steep climb and unfortunately passed away.

As a tribute from the world’s most prestigious road cycling race, and to forever commemorate and honor the rider, his name was inscribed on the climb itself.

After the third First Category Climb, the riders would face the last one, located at the 139-kilometer mark of the stage: the Col d’Agnes.