Chapter 467 - 220: A Legendary Rider Is Officially Born

Stefan King was incredibly fast for the entire course.

As one of the favorites to win the final time trial stage of the Vuelta a Espa?a, the official broadcast kept the live camera on him for nearly the entire race.

Among the riders who had already finished, the best time so far belonged to UAE Cyclist Baroncini, but the fastest times at the first two intermediate checks had been set by Vacek of the Trek Team.

However, Vacek had clearly mismanaged his pacing on today’s stage. He pushed too hard at the first two time checks, which caused him to blow up in the final section.

But Stefan King, wearing the jersey of the Swiss national champion, was clearly gunning for the final stage victory. After the first time check at 8km, he was a full 18 seconds faster than Vacek, who had set the previous best time.

Even more frighteningly, after the second time check at 17.5km, Stefan King had brutally extended his lead, going a staggering 41 seconds faster than Vacek.

In the end, with an average speed of 55.755 km/h, he finished with a total time of 26:28.37, becoming the first rider to break the 27-minute barrier. He knocked Baroncini, who had occupied the hot seat for a long time, off the top spot by 43.57 seconds, claiming first place on the live leaderboard with a commanding advantage.

Seeing Stefan King set such a pace put a fair amount of pressure on Huang Chong.

Although a General Classification rider like him had virtually no weaknesses, and his time-trialing ability was among the best in the world, today’s stage was, after all, predominantly flat.

A time trial with no climbs simply came down to who could sustain a high power output for the longest.

And after Stefan King took the hot seat, none of the subsequent riders could beat his time.

The rider who came closest was the Quick Step domestique, Cata?o, who had started 23rd in the general classification.

But even with a heroic performance that put him second on the live leaderboard, Cata?o still finished a full 41.9 seconds behind Stefan King.

This insane advantage undoubtedly made Stefan King quite proud as he sat in the hot seat, so much so that he kept making funny faces whenever the live camera was on him.

Of course, the last group of riders to set off were all General Classification contenders. Even though Stefan King had put down a monstrous time by giving it his all, he couldn’t relax for a moment until the race was over and the final rider, Huang Chong, had crossed the line without breaking his record.

However, with riders like Evenepoel, Poga?ar, and Vingegaard absent from this year’s Vuelta a Espa?a, the field of GC contenders was truly lacking in time trial specialists.

Of the nine riders from C. Rodríguez in tenth place overall to O’Connor in second, not a single one managed to finish with a time under 27 minutes and 30 seconds.

The best among them was the Trek Team’s lead climber, Skjelmose, who finished with an average speed of 53.668 km/h for a total time of 27:30.14.

This meant that of the top ten riders in the Vuelta a Espa?a’s general classification, everyone except for Huang Chong—who had started last and not yet finished—trailed Stefan King by over a minute.

Huang Chong was naturally paying close attention to his teammate, Lipowitz. However, Lipowitz’s final average speed was slightly slower than Skjelmose’s, at 53.390 km/h.

This meant he would lose over eight seconds to Skjelmose on the stage.

And so, after all 21 stages of the Vuelta a Espa?a were complete, Lipowitz—who Huang Chong had helped pull into sixth place in the general classification on Stage 20—was ultimately unable to hold his position. He finished seventh overall, a mere three seconds behind Skjelmose.

Of course, the Red Bull Bora Team was absolutely delighted with this result for Lipowitz.

After all, for the team to have two riders place in the top ten at the Vuelta a Espa?a—both of them young talents eligible to compete for the best young rider’s White Jersey—was a result that couldn’t have been more perfect.

In competitive sports, youth is the real currency.

The earlier a Professional Cyclist achieves results, the greater their potential. Therefore, as long as the Red Bull Bora Team could keep Huang Chong and Lipowitz under contract, they were poised to become the World Tour’s most promising emerging powerhouse for the next five years, or even longer.

"Huang, Lipowitz has finished his ride. He couldn’t fend off the comeback from Skjelmose in this final stage, but he held off the challenges from Landa and C. Rodríguez to finish seventh in the GC.

You’re the only one left to finish. Let’s go!!

The finish line is not far now. You were a second faster than Stefan King at the first time check, and you’re still a second ahead at the second time check.

If you can just maintain this power output, you have a huge chance of taking your seventh stage win of your first Vuelta a Espa?a!!"

As he drew ever closer to the finish line, Aldag’s constant stream of encouragement rang in Huang Chong’s ears.

The team had no objections to him going all out for the stage win.

Riding at full tilt certainly carried the risk of a crash, and with such a large lead in the general classification, Huang Chong didn’t need to ride desperately to secure the overall victory—

but the incredible record he could set by winning Stage 21 was simply too tempting.

It was so tempting that even the team couldn’t resist letting him go for the record of a seventh stage win in a single Vuelta a Espa?a.

The legendary Merckx may have achieved the incredible feat of seven stage wins in a single Tour de France, but no one had ever accomplished such a thing at the Tour of Spain.