Chapter 466 - 219: The Roadblock to the Seventh Vuelta a España Title Appears

In the general classification, he was already a full 5 hours and 20-something minutes behind the first-place Huang Chong.

But as a domestique, this kind of time gap was meaningless.

In any case, to be able to persevere through a Grand Tour and finish all the stages was, in itself, a remarkable achievement.

After all, Grand Tours start with 176 riders, but now only 135 remained. The attrition rate was staggering.

Not everyone who starts a Grand Tour can endure the grueling three-week struggle.

Of course, the riders at the bottom of the general classification had no chance of competing for the stage win. Their ride was basically just a show for the fans.

It wasn’t until Affini, ranked 119th in the general classification, started his ride that people truly began to focus on the course.

However, despite taking sixth place in the S1 Stage and giving it his all in this final race, Affini was a veteran whose recovery was clearly lacking after 20 days of exertion. He finished with a speed of only 53.537 km/h, his total time exceeding 27 and a half minutes.

Huang Chong, who was still a long way from his start time and hadn’t even begun warming up on the trainer, saw Affini’s speed and felt fairly certain. ’With a result like that,’ he thought, ’he’ll be lucky to even make the top ten.’

And just as Huang Chong predicted, Affini had barely warmed the hot seat before his time was beaten by Campenaerts of the Lotto Team, ranked 111th in the GC.

Huang Chong knew a bit about Campenaerts, but the latter’s performance today could only be described as average; after all, his finishing speed was still under 54 km/h.

He had a shot at the top ten, but was definitely a long way off from a top-three stage finish.

And Campenaerts didn’t get to sit in the hot seat for long either. He was soon unseated by Jieke Cyclist Mauro Schmid, who was 73rd in the GC.

Then, Schmidt was quickly knocked off by UAE Cyclist Filippo Baroncini, ranked 68th in the GC.

This guy posted an average speed of 54.267 km/h with a total time of around 27 minutes and 11 seconds, which was quite competitive.

What surprised Huang Chong, however, was that among the riders starting after Baroncini, UAE Team’s other two time trial experts, Vine and McNulty, both chose to take it easy.

They didn’t go all out at all, posting speeds of only 51 and 48 km/h, respectively.

This caught Huang Chong somewhat by surprise, and at the same time, he couldn’t help but marvel:

’These guys from UAE, they’re so rich they can do whatever they want!’

After Vine had secured the King of the Mountains’ Polka Dot Jersey yesterday, UAE Team had clearly made a tactical decision to give up on today’s stage.

And so, with his teammates deliberately holding back for him, Baroncini sat in the hot seat for a very long time. It wasn’t until Stefan King of FDJ, 39th in the GC, started his ride that Baroncini’s time was finally beaten.

When Huang Chong saw Stefan King’s finishing time, his expression instantly turned serious.

He knew very well that King was a time trial specialist. Just as expected, the moment his average speed and time were posted, they smashed Baroncini’s time.

Plus, with many time trial experts like McNulty and Vine deliberately holding back today, Stefan King’s time had a real shot at winning the stage!

And so, with the race at this point, Huang Chong knew that the main obstacle to his quest for a seventh Vuelta a Espa?a victory had finally appeared.

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