Chapter 297 - 168: From Today On, Everyone Will See You in a New Light

They were trying to capitalize on every minor incident on the course to gain a greater advantage for Pogačar.

The unluckiest was the Ineos rider, Pidcock. He had just managed to get past an accident, only to suffer a mechanical failure at the 87-kilometer mark.

He ended up falling back to the third group, more than 20 seconds behind the second group containing van der Poel, who was furiously chasing Huang Chong and the others.

Huang Chong glanced to the side. After the Wanna Mountain climb, a race official on a motorcycle held up a small blackboard displaying the real-time gap. He saw that his lead group had pulled away from the second group, which contained his other teammates and van der Poel, by a full minute.

It was only then that he fully understood how prescient Aldag had been the day before when he had stressed that Huang Chong must not have any accidents or make any mistakes.

The pace of the five Monuments was indeed incomparable to that of a stage race; the smallest mistake would truly be magnified infinitely.

Especially in the latter half of the Liège Race, a section with constant ascents and descents, closing a one-minute gap required an immense amount of energy.

In fact, not only was it difficult to close the gap, but Huang Chong found that as his group reached an extremely famous climb in the middle of the Liège Race—the Stokkeu Mountain climb (Côte de Stockeu)—with 79.5 km to the finish, the gap had actually widened. Van der Poel’s second group had lost even more time, now trailing them by 1 minute and 16 seconds.

However, after the Stokkeu Mountain climb, Huang Chong knew the gap was certain to widen even further.

The reason was that the Stokkeu Mountain climb was comparable in difficulty to the Wall of Huy from the Flèche Wallonne.

The climb was 1 km long—not a great distance, to be sure—but the average gradient was a steep 12.5%, with the maximum gradient hitting 17%.

And the moment they hit the climb, UAE Team’s Core Deputy Commander, Novak, shot to the front of the group and began to lead the pace, rocking his bike out of the saddle.

On such a steep climb, the lead group, which had absorbed the breakaway, quickly began to shed riders. More than ten of them were dropped on the steep incline almost instantly.

This further reduced the size of the lead group, which now numbered only around 30 riders.

Among them, the only riders who could remain seated while climbing this long, steep section were Pogačar and Huang Chong.

Both of them stood on their pedals and rocked their bikes a few times, but they quickly sat back down, following their respective teammates, and began to pedal furiously while seated.

Not only that, but their riding postures were exceptionally stable. Their cores remained completely still, without the slightest bit of side-to-side swaying.

This scene was, of course, fully captured by the live broadcast’s helicopter camera. The race officials quickly used special effects to zoom in and deliberately circle the riding postures of Huang Chong and Pogačar for comparison.

Steve and Jimmy of European Sports were utterly stunned.

As veteran commentators, they naturally understood what it takes to remain seated and climb steadily on such a steep incline without standing up to rock the bike: it requires incredible cardiopulmonary oxygen supply, core leg power, gluteal muscle groups, and upper body core muscle groups.

It could be said that to become a top-tier GC Cyclist, pedaling power alone is not nearly enough.

It even requires the rider’s entire physiological makeup, from top to bottom, inside and out, to be in the most ideal condition for cycling.

Pogačar was, without a doubt, the embodiment of the perfect cycling physique.

But they never expected that Huang Chong could also perform at this level.

"Oh, my god!!

Look at the comparison between the Chinese rider’s and Pogačar’s riding postures on the Stokkeu Mountain climb—

From this aerial view, aside from their completely different kits, they look like they were carved from the same mold.

Jimmy, the average gradient of Stokkeu Mountain is 12.5%, right?

Imagine, on a climb this steep, trying to keep up with the other riders who are furiously rocking their bikes, all while staying perfectly seated and steady like these two... what would that even feel like?"

"That’s right, Steve. The average gradient of Stokkeu Mountain is 12.5%, but it gets steeper the closer you get to the summit. The last two hundred meters even hit a gradient of 17%—"

"Damn!! Those two guys—compared to ordinary people, they’re basically supermen!!"

As Steve watched Huang Chong stick tightly to Pogačar’s wheel as they crested the Stokkeu Mountain climb together, he finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and let out a blunt curse live on air.

Meanwhile, in the domestic Chinese viewing forums, all the cycling fans who saw this scene made the comments section explode:

[Holy shit, is Huang Chong that badass?!! That’s a 17% climb, and he just kept up with Pogačar??]

[So epic, just so damn epic!! On a gradient like that, if it were me, forget riding—I’d have a hard time even pushing my bike up!!]

[We’re all supposed to be human, so why is the difference between us so huge? I can’t even—]

[Holy crap, the way things are going, does Huang Chong actually have a shot at winning?]

[Who was it that said before the race that just holding on to third would be a victory? Whichever fan said that, get over here and take your licks!!!]

[Exactly! Van der Poel is a minute and a half behind them now. Even if he can’t beat Pogačar, he definitely has a shot at second place!!!]

...

And just as the race officials were deliberately stirring the pot by showing the comparison of Huang Chong and Pogačar’s riding styles on the live broadcast, Pogačar himself, one of the subjects of the comparison, turned his head as if by telepathy to glance at Huang Chong, who was glued to his rear wheel.