Chapter 388 - 193: An All-or-Nothing Attack, the Yellow Jersey Is the Best Backdrop

"Everyone, when you’re out riding with your friends, you must ride within your own abilities. Please, cherish your lives—"

And just as the two European Sports commentators offered this friendly reminder during the live broadcast, every cycling fan watching around the world was on the edge of their seat. While Huang Chong’s extreme downhill attack had their blood pumping and adrenaline surging, they were also breaking out in a cold sweat for him. In front of their screens, nearly everyone was holding their breath, fists clenched, not even daring to exhale.

To be honest, after seeing the speedometer on the official motorcycle following Huang Chong display a top downhill speed of 108 km/h, no one would even think of imitating him, even without the commentators’ warning.

Or perhaps, a more accurate way to put it is that an ordinary person could never reach such a speed.

After all, reaching this speed on a descent requires the rider to constantly add power, and the demands on their aerodynamic posture are also extremely high.

This isn’t a speed that can be achieved on just any long descent.

Furthermore, for an amateur cyclist, even if they could somehow reach such a downhill speed, a single attempt would likely end in a crash before they could even finish one stretch of road!

This is because road bikes themselves are simply too delicate and lightweight.

During a descent, the rider must shift their center of gravity aggressively forward to keep the front wheel stable enough at high speeds.

If the front wheel were to wobble uncontrollably from side to side, it would easily cause a total loss of balance, and the rider would be instantly smashed to a pulp, splattered all over the mountainside.

"Holy shit!! Huang Chong is insane!! Hitting a top speed of 108 km/h on a descent—"

"And France, seriously? They don’t even have guardrails on the side of the road. That’s so fucking dangerous!!"

"So fucking exciting!!! If this descent by Huang Chong doesn’t make it into next year’s Netflix documentary on the Tour de France, I’ll eat my fucking shoe!!!"

"Oh my god, Huang Chong finally finished the descent. My entire back is drenched in cold sweat!!! But damn, that was awesome!!"

"I can’t take it. I need to step out onto the balcony for a smoke to calm down. He’s going to give me a heart attack—"

...

As Huang Chong plunged down the high mountain like a bullet from a heavy sniper rifle and landed safely at the bottom, Aldag and the mechanicians in the team car trailing close behind him all let out huge sighs of relief.

As the logistics and support car, they had a close-up, firsthand view of Huang Chong’s extreme maneuvers through every corner. That was what was truly nerve-wracking!

It was safe to say that seeing Huang Chong risk life and limb, betting his own life to fight for the team’s General Classification ranking, filled them with a deep, heartfelt admiration that went beyond mere worry.

Aldag hadn’t dared to say a single word to Huang Chong over the radio the entire time, afraid that the sound of his voice might break his concentration and cause an accident.

But now that Huang Chong had made it safely down the mountain, he could of course resume contact. He immediately got on the Team Radio to praise him:

"Huang, that descent just now really scared the hell out of us!

But I have to say, your incredible downhill attack on Bonneet Mountain—a mountain that’s only been featured in the Tour de France five times in the race’s entire history—is destined to go down in the annals of the Tour.

Your performance was absolutely incredible!!"

Hearing his director’s voice, Huang Chong, who was currently riding alone through a small town at the foot of the mountain and heading for the final climb, was in no mood for praise.

He knew full well that if he wanted to truly drop the third-place rider, Vingegaard, and build a significant lead, he still had a 16.1 km climb to overcome.

There was no point in getting complacent now.

He asked directly:

"Director, what are the time gaps to the peloton and the breakaway group?"

Aldag replied immediately:

"The gap to the peloton is 2 minutes and 7 seconds!

On the descent, you were gaining about half a minute on them for every 10 km!

As for the breakaway group, they’ve already started the final climb and are also about two minutes ahead of you.

Do you need me to contact Sindel, who’s in the breakaway group, and have him slow his pace on the climb to wait for you?"

But Huang Chong heard this and refused bluntly:

"No, absolutely do not do that!

Just tell him to do everything he can to stay with the two Visma Team domestiques.

I can catch up to them on my own power!"

Hearing this response, Aldag naturally had nothing more to say.

Huang Chong’s decision to attack on the descent, while incredibly risky, had indeed saved him a great deal of energy.

Over the entire 41 km-long descent, his power output and energy expenditure had actually been very low.

After all, the key to how Huang Chong had pulled away from the peloton was his more aggressive lines and faster cornering speed, not a higher power output on the long, straight sections of the descent.

Therefore, Aldag had complete faith that Huang Chong could catch the breakaway group on his own, so he replied directly:

"Alright, I’ll relay your decision to Sindel up ahead right now!"

But what Aldag didn’t know was that Huang Chong had chosen to attack on the descent for another crucial reason, besides his absolute confidence in his cornering and bike-handling skills. By this stage of the race, he knew that there weren’t any heavier riders left who could keep up with the main group of General Classification contenders.