Chapter 487 - 228: Things Don’t Happen Thrice, I Am the World’s Most Magnificent Rainbow

If they really made it to the end, the future of road cycling would be completely rewritten.

"The traditional racing style of the past would most likely be replaced by this kind of ultra-long-distance breakaway!"

"Based on this year’s Tour de France results, if the champion and runner-up were to work together in a breakaway, taking turns pulling, there’s a huge chance their attack would succeed.

However, I think instead of fantasizing about Huang Chong and Tadej working together, he should be more worried about Sivakov and Tadej falling into their natural rhythm as teammates and working to drop him.

After all, we all know they’re on the same team and have raced together many times.

If they choose to target Huang Chong first, the race could take a completely different turn."

"This is certainly a problem he has to face, but honestly, I’m still quite confident in Huang Chong’s ability.

If I were him, I’d probably launch an attack on the next climb. Even if I couldn’t shake Tadej, I’d have to try and drop Sivakov first, otherwise his situation would be too dangerous."

"I agree, but trying to drop a top-tier rider like Sivakov will definitely cost Huang Chong a lot.

We all know how powerful his Sprinting Burst is.

If he can manage to stick with both of them all the way to the finish line, he’d actually have a better chance of winning.

He’s already beaten Tadej twice in a sprint to the finish during the Tour de France.

But if he burns through his energy trying to drop Sivakov, then on the climbs in the final two laps, Tadej will surely do what he did at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and leave him far behind on the most critical ascent. It’s a real dilemma—"

If Huang Chong could hear Jimmy’s words, he’d probably call the man a kindred spirit.

In fact, his current state of mind was almost exactly as the commentator had described.

’With Sivakov always in the mix, he and Poga?ar will use their established chemistry to take turns attacking and disrupt my riding rhythm.

In a high-intensity race, maintaining a constant power output is the best way to stay stable.

Nobody likes being toyed with, forced into an uncontrollable, fluctuating power output.

One moment fast, the next slow, especially when you add repeated anaerobic efforts. Unless you’ve specifically trained for this kind of power fluctuation, constantly being forced to react is an incredibly severe challenge for both your legs and your cardiovascular recovery.’

Poga?ar and Sivakov clearly had an understanding.

After an 800-meter short, steep climb, Sivakov was already showing signs of being dropped.

But Poga?ar, attacking at the front, kept looking back to check on his teammate and Huang Chong. When he saw Sivakov struggling to keep up, he deliberately slowed the pace to let him reconnect.

He was clearly setting up a two-on-one fight.

Huang Chong still had enough energy to follow Poga?ar’s attacks for now, but if they kept working together to toy with him, his energy would drain incredibly quickly.

But he had no way to counter. In the World Championships circuit race, the first two climbs were the only real places to launch an attack; the rest of the course consisted of small rolling hills and descents.

If he attacked, Poga?ar would just use Sivakov to chase him down. On this terrain, he had no chance of getting away.

So, for the rest of the fifth lap, he could only grit his teeth and resort to survival tactics, passively following their wheels.

Meanwhile, with the trio off the front, the pace in the peloton also ramped up, driven by Belgium’s top-tier squad of domestiques.

After chasing for nearly two laps without making a dent in the time gap to Huang Chong and Poga?ar, they were undoubtedly starting to panic.

If things continued like this, they might burn through all their domestiques and still never see those two monsters again.

However, while Evenepoel and van der Poel had yet to make a move, Ben Healy of the Ireland Team and Skuji?? of the Latvia Team decisively launched an attack on the fifth lap’s climb, breaking away from the main group.

Their situation was actually similar to Huang Chong’s.

Although their respective National Teams had four riders each, their teammates were of average strength and had already been dropped long ago under the furious pace set by the Belgian domestiques.

With no teammates left to help, there was no reason to keep hiding in the peloton. They decisively put it all on the line.

Unfortunately, their explosive power was limited. Despite attacking on the climb and quickly building a 20-second advantage, the intensity of the race was so high that this gap only translated to about a hundred meters over the peloton.

"Holy shit, Brother Sharp is a beast! A real man never just hangs back. His attack pulled Skuji?? along and closed the gap to Huang Chong’s trio to just 40 seconds—"

"I’m a big fan of Brother Sharp, but that attack must have taken a lot out of him. It’s going to be tough for him to close the gap any further."

"Skuji?? is being such a wheel-sucker! He’s not taking a single turn with Brother Sharp. You can’t have an effective rotation with someone riding like that. Making Brother Sharp chase down Huang Chong’s group all by himself is asking way too much of him!"

Although the Chinese fans were, of course, all supporting their national rider, Ben Healy actually had a huge following as well.