Chapter 342 - 179: Unlocking the Highest Competition Achievement Honor Medal and Becoming a High-level Professional Cyclist (Part 2)

The core of the Quick Step Team was, of course, Remco Evenepoel. However, Quick Step has always been known among World Tour teams for its frugal budget, so its support lineup wasn’t particularly luxurious, featuring riders like Mikel Landa and Ilan Van Wilder.

The Cofidis Team had Guillaume Mattan and Bryan Coquard.

The FDJ Team featured David Gaudu, Kevin Geniets, Romain Grégoire, Stefan King, Valentin Madouas, and others.

When the cyclists from the sprinter-heavy Alpecin team made their appearance, the atmosphere in the venue erupted once again.

After all, their team included Mathieu van der Poel, wearing the World Championships Rainbow Jersey, as well as top sprinter Jasper Philipsen.

The Core Commander for Bahrain Victorious was an old rival of Huang Chong’s from the UAE Tour: Pello Bilbao.

The team also included Phil Bauhaus, Santiago Buitrago, and Matej Mohorič.

As for the Jieke Team, Simon Yates would be leading the charge, supported by Michael Matthews, Luke Durbridge, and others.

Finally, after another stage performance, the last six World Tour teams, saved for the finale, began to take the stage.

First to appear was the Trek Team, led by their General Classification captain, Italian cyclist Giulio Ciccone.

This year, they didn’t bring climber Skjelmose or top sprinter Milan, opting instead for Mads Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven, and others.

Next was the Decathlon Team, with Felix Gall at its core, supported by Bruno Amiel and Nicolas Prodhomme. Sam Bennett was tasked with competing for victories on the flat stages.

Right after, it was finally the turn of Huang Chong’s Red Bull Bora Team. They had been waiting in the starting area for nearly two hours.

Their team’s lineup for this Tour de France was, without a doubt, the most star-studded eight-man roster Ralph Denke had ever assembled since the team’s inception.

Their leader: Primož Roglič.

Backup leader and Core Deputy Commander: Huang Chong.

The rest of the lineup included support riders Aleksandr Vlasov, Jay Sindel, Nico Denz, Bob Jungels, Matteo Sobrero, and the sprinter, Danny van Poppel.

When the host introduced Huang Chong, the list of his titles was quite long, as it had to include the string of top-tier race results he had achieved this year.

Fifth in the General Classification at the Tour of Australia, overall champion of the UAE Tour, champion of the Milan-Turin Race, champion of Crossing Flanders, champion of the Flèche Wallonne, runner-up at the Liège Race, runner-up at the Frankfurt Grand Prix, and overall champion of the Tour of Hungary—

Huang Chong smiled and waved to the audience, instantly drawing a wave of thunderous applause.

He even heard some Chinese fans in the crowd shouting in Mandarin:

"HUANG CHONG, YOU’RE A BEAST! CHARGE, CHONG, CHARGE!!!"

However, he wasn’t the team’s number one leader, so the organizers had designated Roglič for the interview. There was only a single microphone, and it was placed right in front of him.

After they left the stage, the British powerhouse, the Ineos Grenadiers Team, made their entrance.

Their leader was Carlos Rodríguez, and the other riders were mostly big names, including Egan Bernal, Geraint Thomas, Laurens De Plus, and Thomas Pidcock.

Next up were the two teams unanimously considered by both betting companies and fans worldwide to be the most likely contenders for this year’s Tour de France general classification title.

First was the UAE Team, who had secured second and third place in the previous year’s general classification.

Their leader: Tadej Pogačar.

Their support roster was so stacked it was enough to make some mid- to lower-tier teams—including a team like Quick Step, famous for its tight budget—turn green with envy.

The lineup featured Juan Ayuso, João Almeida, Adam Yates, Nils Politt, Pavel Sivakov, Marc Soler, and Tim Wellens.

It was no exaggeration to say that among this group of UAE domestiques, at least three or four of them could easily be the undisputed Core Commander on another team.

The final team to take the stage was, of course, the Visma Team. They were home to last year’s Tour de France champion, but this year had seen massive personnel changes, a new team name, and a season plagued by relentless bad luck.

But then came the good news that shocked the world—though it didn’t shock Huang Chong. At the team presentation, both Jonas Vingegaard, who had been seriously injured in the Euskaltel Week Race, and Wout Van Aert, who had crashed out of Crossing Flanders, were making their return.

However, their remaining six-man support roster, while still top-tier, was clearly a step below UAE’s.

The roster consisted of Bart Lemmen, Matteo Jorgenson, Wilco Kelderman, Christophe Laporte, Tiesj Benoot, and Yang Tranic.

And as the Visma Team’s presentation concluded, the complete roster for every team participating in this year’s Tour de France was officially set.

Without a doubt, only the Tour de France could bring together a peloton featuring nearly every top rider on the World Tour.

It not only attracts the world’s strongest climbers in droves but also brings together the top Classics specialists and sprinters.

This was something the other two Grand Tours, the seven major week-long stage races, and the five Monument Classics could not achieve.

After the presentation ceremony, Huang Chong returned to his team, his spirits completely fired up by the fans in Florence.

He was heading into this race with the team, and team leadership still expected him to do everything he could to support their veteran leader, Roglič, just as he had in the Tour of Dauphine.