Chapter 468: A Rider Destined to Be a Legend Is Officially Born

If Huang Chong could pull this off, it would be an unprecedented record.

This would not only generate a huge number of topics and trending searches, but also attract immense attention and hype for the team and the rider himself.

In short, in this era where engagement is king, any record-breaking feat by an athlete is a definite plus.

“Look at Huang Chong’s performance after the first two time checks. He has cumulatively shaved two seconds off Stefan King’s time. His current average speed is also hitting over 55 KM/H. If he rides the entire race at this pace, it’s highly likely he’ll take another title!! I’m running out of words to praise this super-genius from the East, because his entire performance at the Vuelta a España is destined to go down in history!! Now we’ll just have to see if he can beat Stefan King’s finishing time as he crosses the line, and cap off his very first Grand Tour general classification victory with a perfect ending!!”

“That’s right. If you look at Huang Chong’s performance over this entire year, starting with his spectacular three stage wins at the Tour of Australia, he’s been on a meteoric rise ever since. He just keeps getting better and better, and his individual skill level has been constantly on the upswing. It’s been an absolutely incredible, unbelievable performance. Of course, he’s had his setbacks along the way, such as losing to the current number one in road cycling, Tadej, at the Liège Race and the Tour de France, respectively. But the way he was able to bounce back so quickly and decisively from those losses with such dominant performances at the Paris Olympic Games and now here at the Vuelta a España… it really makes me wonder if he wasn’t simply born to compete. Like he’s a machine. His temperament and his ability are just so incredibly consistent. It’s like he has the composure of a veteran, not a rookie in his first year on the World Tour circuit!”

Meanwhile, as the two European Sports commentators lavished praise on Huang Chong, who was currently tucked in on his TT bike and powering toward the finish line, Stefan King, who’d been in the hot seat for nearly forty minutes, was without a doubt the most nervous person on the planet watching the broadcast.

After all, the fans were merely spectators. Even his family, who supported him with all their hearts, were still on the sidelines.

He alone was the one on the course, a competitor fighting for the title.

However, just after Huang Chong passed the second time check with only two kilometers to go, Stefan King saw the last rider off the ramp, Huang Chong, successfully overtake the second-to-last rider, O’Connor. A bitter smile crept onto his face.

The starting protocol for the Vuelta a España ITT dictates a one-minute gap between each rider.

The fact that Huang Chong could catch and pass Ben O’Connor before the finish meant he had already put a full minute into him.

This development, however, had the Chinese fans absolutely ecstatic.

After all, one of the biggest thrills in a time trial is seeing a rider who started later physically catch someone up the road.

For a well-known rider to be overtaken by someone who started behind them… well, that’s incredibly embarrassing.

O’Connor is definitely a star rider. While not quite a superstar, he’s certainly considered a top-tier rider among the “best of the mortals.”

And yet, here he was, being easily overtaken by Huang Chong!

“Holy shit, Huang Chong is ruthless! This is a flat ITT, and he still managed to come from behind and make up a minute on O’Connor—”

“Can one of you math whizzes please calculate the square footage of O’Connor’s trauma right now?”

“Huang Chong’s power in a flat time trial is insane. I feel like other than Eve and Ganna, there’s nobody who can beat him on the flats. Pogačar and Vingegaard certainly aren’t as dominant in a pure flat time trial—”

“A new generation of aero superman has appeared. Tough luck for Ganna. It’s one thing to have Eve keeping him down, but it looks like he’s about to be knocked down to third place.”

“It’s a shame China’s men’s team didn’t qualify for the ITT at the Paris Olympic Games. Otherwise, with Huang Chong’s ability, I’m not saying he’d for sure win double gold, but medaling in both events would’ve been a very real possibility!”

Huang Chong, of course, had no idea what the world was saying about him.

As a professional athlete, his life was actually quite simple, even monotonous.

He wasn’t living the decadent, glamorous life of some other athletes, partying with supermodels. He barely even used his phone or went online.

His days consisted of training, giving interviews, and participating in the occasional team-related commercial or charity event.

During a race, he was almost completely cut off from the outside world, completely disconnected from the universe of algorithm-driven content.

However, as a lifelong sports fan from his past life, he had plenty of experience as a spectator.

So, even though he ignored the media, he knew that posting such an incredible result at the Vuelta a España would inevitably cause a massive stir online.

During the Vuelta a España and the Olympic Games, for instance, he didn’t need to guess; he knew he must have been trending countless times back in China.

And if today’s race went as planned, it would undoubtedly send the hype for road cycling through the roof once more.

“Only 1KM to the finish! Huang, hold your current power output. Your current speed is very close to Stefan King’s. Just hold on for another 900 meters. You can put in another burst in the final stretch. You should be able to overtake him!”

In road cycling, the final kilometer to the finish line is lined with numerous distance markers.

Generally, there’s a marker every 100 meters.

During the final 200-meter sprint, some race organizers will even post more detailed markers for 150m, 50m, and even 30m to go.