Chapter 389 - 193: An All-or-Nothing Attack, the Yellow Jersey is the Best Backdrop

It was a known fact on the World Tour circuit that the fastest descenders weren’t GC cyclists like him, but rather the top-tier flat-road sprinters and classics specialists.

After all, gravity was the great equalizer. Heavier riders suffered immensely on the climbs, but they held a distinct advantage on the descents.

In fact, those sprinters had to specifically train their descending skills just to avoid being eliminated by the time cut on the high mountain stages of Grand Tours.

The time they lost on the ascents could only be clawed back on the descents!

Having ridden for the better part of a season in top-tier races since entering the World Tour, Huang Chong had naturally discovered this himself.

He had long understood that in the highest echelons of professional cycling, even the smallest discovery could often determine the final outcome of a race.

As he passed solo through the French town at the foot of the mountain and officially began the final First Category Climb, he knew he still had 16.1 kilometers left to cover.

He had to make the two-minute advantage he’d built on the descent last all the way to the finish line!

So, after a brief exchange with Aldag, Huang Chong consumed his last Energy Gel, jettisoned any remaining supplies to save weight, and began his assault on the climb!

The final ascent, the Isola 2000 climb, was incredibly difficult for the first 8 kilometers. The gradient was steep, averaging at least 7-8%.

If he couldn’t catch his teammates on this section of the climb, he’d have almost no chance of making it to the finish.

However, his condition and stamina were holding up remarkably well. After all, he had consumed a system-rewarded Energy Gel back on Stage 15, meaning he definitely had more energy in reserve than any other rider.

This enabled him to maintain a seated position as he started the climb, furiously pedaling and putting out at least 450 watts of power.

For his body weight, this power output was frankly terrifying. His Power-to-Weight Ratio held steady at around 7.0 for nearly the entire time.

As expected, it didn’t take long for him to start reeling in the original seven-man breakaway group on the climb. The first rider he caught was a man in a bright red kit—Cristian Rodríguez of the Arkéa Team!

Upon seeing Huang Chong fly past him, the young rider, who was already weaving from exhaustion on the climb, could do nothing but shake his head with a wry smile. He had no strength left to follow and could only watch as Huang Chong rapidly disappeared into the distance.

Following that, Huang Chong maintained his stable power output and form. On a 10% gradient, he was even managing an average speed of 24 km/h as he continued his pursuit of the breakaway group.

By the time he was just 13.7 kilometers from the finish, he successfully caught his teammate, Sindel, who had already been dropped by the breakaway group.

Seeing the familiar face finally arrive, Sindel—who had already received his orders from the team—was actually on the verge of blowing up.

But with his leader now there, he knew it didn’t matter if he completely exploded. He gritted his teeth and squeezed out one last bit of energy, giving Huang Chong a lead-out for about a kilometer. He also sprayed the entire contents of his water bottle over Huang Chong to cool him down before falling back completely.

The moment Sindel pulled over, Huang Chong gave him a thumbs-up in thanks. Then, without a second thought, he left his teammate behind and continued his pursuit of the five riders up the road!

At that moment, the time gap to Jorgenson and the others ahead was down to just 54 seconds.

In other words, in less than four kilometers of climbing, he had clawed back over a minute.

That kind of overwhelming power was truly terrifying!

As he continued powering up the climb at a 7.0 Power-to-Weight Ratio, leaving his own teammate in his wake, the Visma Team clearly began to panic. They immediately got on the radio to Jorgenson and Kelderman, ordering them to launch an attack from the breakaway.

Their team leader, Vingegaard, was still about two minutes behind Huang Chong and hadn’t managed to close the gap at all on the climb.

If Huang Chong caught Jorgenson before Vingegaard could bridge up, it would be a devastating blow to their strategy.

After all, once Huang Chong passed him, Jorgenson would no longer be able to act as a satellite rider to pace Vingegaard.

Once the pair received the order, Kelderman didn’t hesitate. From within the breakaway group, he decisively put in a turn of a few hundred meters to build speed, effectively launching his teammate, Jorgenson.

It had to be said, Jorgenson’s form this year was phenomenal.

Carapaz, Simon Yates, and C. Rodríguez, who were in the same group, couldn’t match his attack and were all dropped one by one.

But when Huang Chong heard this news from Aldag, he was completely unfazed.

Jorgenson attacking early meant he was now riding solo, just like Huang Chong. Without teammates for support, he wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest.

He knew his climbing ability was far superior to his rival’s.

And so, continuing his seated climb, Huang Chong began to pick them off one by one: Kelderman, C. Rodríguez, Carapaz, Simon Yates—

Soon, only Jorgenson remained up the road, desperately trying to escape!

However, with about 9.7 kilometers remaining to the finish line, a piece of bad news reached Huang Chong’s ears from Aldag.

Pogačar of the UAE Team had attacked! In a single corner, he had instantly dropped Vingegaard and Evenepoel!

"Huang, Tadej has attacked from the peloton! His power output is extremely high, you need to be careful!"

Huang Chong couldn’t help but feel a surge of anxiety upon hearing the news. After all, Pogačar’s climbing ability this year was still significantly stronger than his.