Chapter 434 - 209: Super Brawl Mode, Reaping the Fisherman’s Profit?

"Holy crap, without Wen Bo around, Huang Chong is absolutely invincible on the climbs!!"

"He’s too strong, he’s just too damn strong! With that kind of steep climbing ability, the other teams’ commanders don’t stand a chance!!"

"This old man can only use two words to describe his performance—"

"What are they, old timer?"

"Utterly terrifying!!!"

...

As Huang Chong easily dropped the last breakaway rider, Tejada, in the final moments and crossed the finish line first on the live broadcast of the Vuelta a España, the comment section of the domestic livestream channel was instantly flooded by fans.

For the domestic fans, Huang Chong’s extremely dominant and invincible performance was undoubtedly like a shot of adrenaline.

After all, at the end of Stage 6, they had watched as Huang Chong’s huge lead was cut down to just two seconds by O’Connor. Although the commentators kept saying that Huang Chong was deliberately giving up time as part of a team tactic...

...in reality, the hearts of most of Huang Chong’s true fans were pounding with anxiety.

It was a lead of nearly five minutes, after all, essentially wiped out all at once.

And O’Connor’s climbing performance really wasn’t bad.

’Was this really a tactical arrangement?’

’Or had their beloved idol’s form taken a nosedive, leading to a complete collapse?’

To be honest, besides Huang Chong and the Red Bull Bora Team themselves, the fans had no clear answer.

Fortunately, just two days later, after Stage 8, they watched as Huang Chong rode solo to victory in the final showdown, dropping all his rivals. He even put another 1 minute and 46 seconds into O’Connor—who had only been two seconds behind—in a single stage. With the winner’s time bonus, he re-established a massive lead of nearly two minutes. The domestic fans could finally celebrate with abandon and breathe a huge sigh of relief!

Because it was only at this moment that they finally believed what the race commentators had been saying all along—things like "Huang Chong is deliberately giving up time" and "The Red Bull Bora Team is executing a tactic."

You had to feel for O’Connor. He had put in so much effort to close the gap, and it seemed like if he just gritted his teeth a little longer, a comeback was on the cards. But then, faced with a truly difficult climb, he completely fell apart again.

They had been only two seconds apart, so incredibly close.

But in the end, it turned out the real difference in their strength was so stark.

So vast it was insurmountable, impossible to bridge.

The only reason he had been able to close the gap was because Huang Chong was deliberately gifting him time.

Fortunately for him, he wasn’t the only one who fell apart after today’s stage.

For instance, there was the Core Commander of the UAE Team: Almeida.

At the end of this stage, he finished a full 5 minutes and 53 seconds behind the winner, Huang Chong.

As for Adam Yates, he managed to recover quickly after his crash. With his teammates pacing him, he chased furiously and had a slightly better outcome, losing only 2 minutes and 3 seconds in this stage.

However, he had lost too much time in Stage 4.

He had been far too slow to find his form in this year’s race.

Currently, his general classification standing is about the same as his teammate Almeida’s.

It’s no exaggeration to say that after today’s stage, the top ten of the Vuelta a España’s general classification would be shaken up dramatically.

Huang Chong, in the Red Jersey, once again established a lead of 1 minute and 58 seconds over the second-place O’Connor.

O’Connor, in turn, still held a lead of nearly three minutes over the third-place Mas, despite Mas closing the gap by a full 46 seconds today.

Further down, Almeida, who had been third in the GC at the start, plummeted all the way to 26th place.

In fourth place was Tiberi of the Bahrain Victory Team, just 29 seconds behind Mas.

In fifth place was Landa of the Quick Step Team, 13 seconds behind Tiberi.

In sixth was Cristian Rodríguez of the Arkéa Team, only 4 seconds from fifth place.

In seventh was Skjelmose of the Trek Team, 5 seconds behind sixth place.

In eighth place was the young gun from the Red Bull Bora Team: Lipowitz, just 1 second behind seventh.

But the kid clearly didn’t have it on today’s final steep climb, dropping four places in the general classification.

In ninth was the other commander from the Decathlon Team: Gall, also only 1 second behind Lipowitz.

In tenth was another rider from the Bahrain Victory Team: Jack Haig, 18 seconds behind the ninth-place Gall.

As you could see from this GC list, apart from the large time gap between first and second place, the leads held by the other riders were all very small.

With the sudden collapse of the UAE Team, and with the Core Commander of the Ineos Grenadiers Team, Carlos Rodríguez, and the Core Commander of the Visma Team, Kuss, currently sitting in 11th and 12th place respectively—just a few seconds behind the 10th place Haig—the upcoming stages were guaranteed to be incredibly intense and hard-fought.

This brought to mind an apt summary of the Vuelta a España from veteran fans:

The Grand Tour held in Spain each year truly is a massive free-for-all!!

That wasn’t just an empty saying.

Take this year’s race, for example. Besides Huang Chong in the Red Jersey, who has been relatively consistent, the changes in the general classification for the other team commanders have been absolutely chaotic.