Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

Right now, the rider by his side wasn’t his team leader, Roglič, but Evenepoel.

Then, as Adam Yates furiously picked up the pace out of the saddle on the climb, and the gradient kicked up to 14, 15, 17, and finally the steepest section at 20%, yesterday’s stage winner and current Yellow Jersey holder, Romain Bardet, was dropped, along with a host of other team leaders, including Roglič.

But Huang Chong, still seated, managed to stay glued to the wheels of Vingegaard and Pogačar, who were also climbing in the saddle.

’I feel like if this 20% climb goes on any longer, I won’t be able to hang on.’

But the steep ramp was short, after all.

The gradient began to ease. After a bend, it quickly fell from 20% to around 10%.

But just then, before anyone could recover from the steep ramp, Pogačar launched an attack, jumping out of his saddle.

"Tadej has finally launched his attack!!

Jonas and Huang Chong are right on his wheel!!!

Good God, they’re finally making their moves!

This is the epic showdown we’ve been waiting for in the Tour de France!!!

Damn it, Remco can’t respond to the attack! He’s still struggling on this brutal gradient—

Those three have dropped the peloton completely!!"

Huang Chong clung to Vingegaard and Pogačar’s wheels, feeling his energy draining away as if by the ton.

He had experienced Pogačar’s attacks once before, on Fortress Mountain during the Liège Race, so he was somewhat mentally prepared.

But the intensity this guy was putting out in the Tour de France was clearly on another level compared to the Liège Race.

’I knew Pogačar’s attack wasn’t about decisively creating a gap on Vingegaard in this stage.’

’Instead, he and the UAE Team were using this climb to test Vingegaard’s form, to see how well he had recovered from his crash at Euskaltel.’

’As for me, Pogačar had dropped me hard in the Liège Race, so he surely didn’t consider me a top contender for the overall Tour de France title.’

’Especially since Pogačar had lost to Vingegaard, not me, for the past two years.’

Thankfully, Pogačar had attacked close to the summit, and Huang Chong managed to hang on until the very end, just before he completely cracked.

’I have to say, these two guys are absolute monsters.’

’If that steep section had been just five hundred meters longer, I feel that even if I had managed to stay with them, I wouldn’t have had anything left for the finish.’

After the trio’s high-speed descent, Pogačar remained on the front, setting the pace.

The road down from Saint Luke was narrow and twisting. Huang Chong glanced at his speed: a blistering 76 km/h.

’But my cornering ability is just too good. Pogačar couldn’t drop me on the climb; does he really think he can shake me on the descent?’

’In his dreams!!’

With 10 km to go, the trio hit the flat section. Pogačar began looking back repeatedly, signaling for the other two to take their turns pulling at the front.

Vingegaard, true to his crafty nature, sat resolutely on the wheel, refusing to budge.

But Huang Chong, at the back of the trio, glanced over his shoulder. He saw Evenepoel and Carapaz of the EF Education Team chasing them down furiously. Gritting his teeth, he decisively accelerated past Pogačar to the front and started to take a pull.

’Evenepoel’s time-trialing ability on the flats is the best in the world. Even Pogačar can’t match him, let alone me right now.’

’So if Pogačar sees that Vingegaard and I aren’t going to pull, he’ll just give up, drop his power, and let Evenepoel catch us. It’s no big deal to him.’

’After all, he’s confident enough that he can drop Evenepoel in the high mountains later on.’

’But it’s different for me.’

’My biggest rival in this Tour de France is Evenepoel, for both the White Jersey and a spot on the podium.’

’I can’t wait to open up a gap on him as soon as possible.’

So Huang Chong had no choice. He immediately took his turn, pushing the pace up to his maximum threshold power of 460 watts to lead for the two Martians.

Seeing Huang Chong’s willingness to work, Pogačar’s attitude changed completely.

The two of them then began trading frantic pulls, completely ignoring Vingegaard behind them. All the way to the finish line, they maintained a gap of over ten seconds on Evenepoel and Carapaz.

With 200 meters to go, Pogačar knew that Huang Chong had snatched a four-second time bonus in the previous stage. If he couldn’t put more than four seconds into him, he wouldn’t take the Yellow Jersey. So, he launched his sprint.

But after 10 km of riding at his threshold on the flats, Huang Chong had already recovered and immediately latched onto Pogačar’s wheel.

Neither of them had been able to drop Vingegaard on the climb or the descent, but their explosive power in a flat sprint was clearly far superior to his.

So as the two of them crossed the line, they had actually opened a gap of about two bike lengths on Vingegaard.

But in a sprint, that distance translated to a negligible amount of time, so the three were still credited with the same finishing time.

However, thanks to Huang Chong taking his turns at the front, Evenepoel and Carapaz finished a full 13 seconds behind them.

In the end, thanks to the time bonus from the previous stage, Huang Chong moved into first place in the Tour de France’s General Classification after Stage 2. With a slim four-second advantage over Pogačar and Vingegaard, he snatched the overall leader’s Yellow Jersey from Romain Bardet!!

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