Chapter 415 202: Rise from Where You Fall, an Astonishing Time Trial Level

"Of course, I hope to win the first Grand Tour general classification title of my career.

It would be especially amazing to achieve that honor here at the Vuelta a España.

After all, the Vuelta a España has such passionate and friendly fans, and the natural and cultural scenery here is absolutely beautiful!"

Huang Chong's answer was flawless. But as he finished speaking, a passionate shout erupted in Mandarin from the crowd below the simple stage. The call came from his Chinese fans—some who had traveled from all over Europe, and others who had come all the way from China to Lisbon just to support him.

"Huang Chong!! You're definitely going to win the Vuelta a España! We all support you!!!"

"That's right! Let's go, Huang Chong!! Just crush it!!"

"Smoke these foreigners! Wen Bo's not even here, you've got to make 'em feel the burn!!!"

...

Hearing the boisterous shouts from his fellow countrymen, Huang Chong, still on stage, felt a mix of gratitude and exasperation.

'Only fans would dare to speak so freely.'

As a Professional Cyclist, his own statements had to be official and diplomatic.

Fortunately, neither the two Spanish hosts nor the other locals in attendance could understand Mandarin.

They simply saw the incredible enthusiasm from the Asian faces in the crowd and figured they were all there to support Huang Chong.

The hosts followed up with two more brief questions for Huang Chong. After he gave his usual, politically correct answers, the team presentation ceremony officially concluded.

And so, on August 17, at 4:30 PM local time, the first event of the Vuelta a España—the Individual Time Trial—officially kicked off.

The sun was bright and a gentle sea breeze was blowing.

Today's course was very short at only 12 kilometers. Each rider would take about twelve to thirteen minutes to finish, meaning the entire event would be over in three hours at most. Because of this, the organizers scheduled the start for the evening, when the scenery was at its most beautiful.

However, since the first day of racing was an ITT, there were no existing general classification standings. Therefore, the start order was left entirely up to the teams and riders to decide.

Some time trial specialists opted for an early start.

This allowed them to finish the race and get back to resting sooner.

Additionally, if a rider was strong enough, an early start offered a chance to land in the time trial's hot seat.

They would remain there until another rider posted a faster time.

It was an excellent opportunity for some free advertising for their team.

Other top contenders, confident in their ability to reach the podium, naturally chose to start among the final group of riders.

Time trial specialists like McNulty of the UAE Team and Van Aert of the Visma Team, for example, were among those who would be starting late.

Huang Chong, on the other hand, didn't particularly care about his start time. He left the decision entirely up to Aldag.

'In his opinion, for a race like a time trial that came down to pure individual ability, it didn't really matter whether you started early or late.'

'There were no tactics to speak of, anyway.'

'The only X-factor was the wind. You just had to hope you didn't start at a time when the sea breeze picked up, or you'd be in for a world of hurt!'

Fortunately, the evening sea breeze in Lisbon today was exceptionally stable and didn't have any significant impact on the riders throughout the race.

Once the race began, riders started taking to the course in droves.

However, the early starters were mostly there to make up the numbers, and none of them posted any particularly impressive times.

The atmosphere of the race didn't start to heat up until Victor Campenaerts of the Lotto Team finished with a time of 13:07.87, achieving an average speed of 54.8 km/h.

Huang Chong had a very strong impression of Campenaerts, because the man had put on a brilliant performance during the first ITT stage of the Tour de France.

Despite starting early, he had occupied the hot seat for nearly two hours.

His final time ultimately placed him in the top ten for Stage 7 of the Tour de France.

However, since this ITT at the Vuelta a España was so short, it was less a test of endurance and more a contest of anaerobic capacity, raw power, and aerodynamics.

Not long after, Vine of the UAE Team took to the course and beat Campenaerts' time by a full six seconds, quickly knocking him out of the hot seat.

For a long time afterward, none of the subsequent riders could beat Vine's time.

The man had pushed the average speed for the course up to 55.396 km/h.

It wasn't until Edoardo Affini of the Visma Team appeared that Vine's time was smashed by a significant margin.

Huang Chong, who was warming up as his own start time neared, couldn't help but feel his eye twitch when he saw Affini's average speed.

The beast had actually clocked an average speed of 56.604 km/h, a full 16 seconds faster than Vine—

However, this flat-course time trial was destined to be stacked with top talent.

Affini didn't stay in the hot seat for long, either. The Swiss rider Stefan King, who started shortly after him, shaved another second off the best time, pushing the average speed up to 56.704 km/h.

This was Stefan King's specialty.

Like Tarling of the Ineos Grenadiers Team, he was a world-class track cyclist.

While their climbing, sprinting, and descending abilities might not be top-tier, when it came to time trials, they were absolutely on par with the best in the sport.

They weren't like Carlos Rodríguez, the leader of the Ineos Grenadiers Team, or Ciccone, the leader of the Trek Team.

Those last two were an absolute mess when it came to time trials.