Chapter 482 - 226: Being Too Strong Attracts Attention (Part 2)

The Slovenia Team, clad in their bright green jerseys, made their intentions as clear as day. Right from the start, they took control of the race’s pace.

With them leading the chase against any breakaway attempts, the riders from weaker nations who had hoped to launch an early attack and get some screen time for their country saw their ambitions immediately shattered.

The first to attempt a breakaway were four riders: Riley Sheen from the US Team, Ivo Oliveira of Portugal, Emīls Liepi?? of Latvia, and Piotr P?kala of the Poland Team.

But even though the four of them gave it their all at the front, they didn’t even last a single kilometer before being caught and swallowed up by the peloton.

Huang Chong, riding at the very back, was conserving his energy.

Although he could easily keep up with the main group using less than 300 watts of power, he could still clearly feel just how fast the pace of today’s one-day race was.

But this was understandable. After all, the World Championships road race was scheduled for late September, so all the riders were well-rested after a long break.

Poga?ar’s last race, the Montreal Grand Prix, had been more than ten days ago, and he had been resting ever since.

Plus, he had even given Slovenia’s sole ITT spot to Rogli?. In his well-rested state, he was sure to be at peak performance today.

After the first four-man breakaway failed, the peloton moved along steadily for another seven or eight kilometers. Then, with 255 kilometers remaining in the race, three more riders attempted to break away.

They were Markus Pajur from the Estonian Team; Cory Williams from the Belize Team, who, like Huang Chong, was his country’s sole representative; and Amir Arsalan Ansari of the refugee team.

However, these three were relatively weak and couldn’t even manage a one-kilometer gap on the flat before they were once again mercilessly swallowed by the peloton.

Then, just as the peloton swallowed up those three, a third group of breakaway riders launched an attack. This group had a fresh set of faces: Silvan Dillier of the Swiss Team, Marcin Budziński of the Poland Team, and Luke Vertonghen of the Luxembourg Team.

But the domestiques of the Slovenia Team seemed dead set on not letting any breakaway get away easily today. As the attackers put in a burst of power, the Slovenians matched them, shutting down the move once again.

Such a relentless and terrifying struggle was undoubtedly a rare sight in the professional peloton.

Normally, a powerhouse nation like Slovenia would let weaker riders go in a breakaway during the early stages of a race as a matter of professional courtesy.

But today, they were acting completely out of character, giving the weaker nations no chance to have their moment in the spotlight.

This scene, of course, did not go unnoticed by the cycling fans watching around the globe.

The fans didn’t mind one bit.

In fact, the more intense and fast-paced the race, the more excited they were.

After all, fans familiar with the World Tour were used to the peloton letting a breakaway group go easily, only starting the real chase in the latter half of the race.

That usually meant the first half of the race was devoid of much action or conflict.

However, from the perspective of the professional commentators, they understood why Slovenia was doing this.

Steve, from European Sports, couldn’t help but marvel at how exciting the race had been from the very beginning:

"This year’s World Championships, perhaps because there are so many top contenders, Slovenia’s desire to control the race seems particularly strong.

They’ve set such a fast pace from the start and are refusing to let any breakaway go. It seems they have tremendous confidence in their nation’s two leaders."

"I think I can understand why they’re doing it."

Jimmy chimed in with a smile:

"We all know the World Championships is a top-tier race between national teams, with completely different rules from the World Tour.

Like the Olympics and continental championships, riders aren’t allowed to wear radios to communicate with their team directors.

Slovenia is so fixated on chasing down breakaways partly to better control the race’s rhythm, but it might also be a tactic to increase the pace early on and wear down the core riders of other nations.

And personally, from a purely tactical perspective, with two top-tier leaders on their squad, letting a breakaway get away too early isn’t a great option for them anyway.

For one, if they were to send one of their leaders to attack and bridge up to a breakaway group, it wouldn’t actually be that helpful once he got there.

So, in my opinion, if any riders really want to form a successful breakaway, they’ll have to make a new attempt on the upcoming Kyburg climb."

"I agree with you, Jimmy.

The Kyburg climb is very difficult in itself, so launching a breakaway there is indeed the best choice.

If you attack on a steep climb, even powerhouse cycling nations like Slovenia and Belgium will have to burn through a lot of their domestiques’ energy to chase down the attackers.

We’re only about thirty kilometers into the race; burning out your domestiques this early would be anything but a wise move—"

The two hosts from Europe Sport were both experienced, top-tier commentators.

Thus, their analysis and predictions regarding the race situation were highly reliable and accurate.

And just as they predicted, when the race hit the Kyburg climb, a fourth breakaway group quickly formed on its slopes.

Unsurprisingly, this newly formed group of breakaway riders was comprised of some who had tried and failed before, but this time their numbers were noticeably larger.

A total of five riders launched the attack: Dillier, Oliveira, Piotr P?kala, Vertonghen, and a new addition to the breakaway group, the Norwegian rider, Foss.

Foss was a strong time trialist, but he lacked the ability to contend for the win in a road race.

The main reason he chose to join the breakaway was to support his teammate, Abrahamsen.

With Foss up the road to provide support, Abrahamsen’s chances of landing on the podium would naturally increase significantly.

And as the five-man breakaway pulled away on the climb, the domestiques from both the Slovenian and Belgian teams did indeed ease off the pace and let them go.

At this point, the official breakaway of the day had finally been established.

As for how long these five would last before being swallowed up by the peloton, that was anyone’s guess.

In any case, thanks to their hard effort on the climb, they quickly established a lead of one minute and thirty seconds.

There was no way Huang Chong would make any sort of attacking move within the first hundred or so kilometers.

With his strength, he was a genuine podium contender, so it was out of the question for him to join a breakaway just to get some exposure for the China Team at the World Championships.

However, the organizers of this year’s World Championships seemed to know what was up. Even though he was just hiding at the back of the peloton and soft-pedaling, the broadcast director kept putting him on camera.

And whenever the director cut to a shot of Huang Chong, commentators from all over the world were naturally obliged to talk about his personal information, his past achievements, and so on.

You could say that at a major international event like this, getting enough camera time was, in some ways, even more effective for publicity than the World Tour.

Plus, he was riding his custom Olympic Golden Chariot and wearing his Olympic golden helmet—honors that were uniquely his. Any cycling fan around the world watching this race would surely know who Huang Chong was by now.

Some countries’ commentators, playing it up for the broadcast, even declared on air that Huang Chong was potentially Poga?ar’s greatest rival for the title—an even bigger threat than van der Poel.

They were hyping up and praising Huang Chong even more than the official commentators from China.

If Huang Chong, currently cruising leisurely at the back of the pack, knew what the race director was doing or how much commentators from various countries were hyping him up, he would definitely be rolling his eyes.

’I’m hiding back here specifically to lower my profile in the first half and keep a low-key presence, all so I can catch everyone by surprise at a critical moment in the second half—’

’Now I’m getting all this coverage ahead of time. While my rivals in the race won’t notice anything yet, being talked about so much before the race is even decided is ultimately not a good thing.’

’Of course, when you’re this strong, you’re bound to attract attention. There’s nothing to be done about it.’

’I guess you could say that fame is, ultimately, a double-edged sword.’

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