Chapter 345 - 180: A Podium Finish on His Tour de France Debut

They were Vismar, Ineos, UAE, and the Red Bull Bora Team.

Based on their rosters alone, these were the teams most likely to contend for the overall title.

As for the Quick Step Team, although they had Evenepoel, their lineup of support riders was no match for these other four teams.

If they tried to control the pace at the front, their leader would likely be without a single helper after just a few stages.

"Look at the state of the race right now, Jimmy.

The four teams at the front of the main peloton right now... the strength of their rosters has to be the most balanced we’ve ever seen, wouldn’t you say?

Honestly, at the start of the season, I thought the favorites for this year’s Tour de France would still be UAE and Vismar going head-to-head—

but now that we’re actually at the Tour de France, we can see that’s no longer the case.

Especially this year’s Red Bull Bora Team. Their bold moves to bring in Primož and Huang Chong immediately turned them into one of the top teams on the World Tour.

On top of that, the Red Bull Group just became the team’s majority shareholder.

With a budget like that, I believe that this year, and for many years to come, they can absolutely challenge and shake the dominance that UAE and Vismar have built up over the last few years."

Steve, broadcasting live for European Sports, said with a face full of excitement.

His partner, Jimmy, clearly agreed with this assessment and immediately replied:

"I agree with you, Steve.

The Red Bull Bora Team is incredibly competitive this year.

I think their team’s biggest game-changer wasn’t even signing Primož, but attracting Huang Chong from China.

We don’t need to elaborate on his capabilities; they speak for themselves.

Ever since the start of the season, he seems to improve by leaps and bounds with every race he completes.

I’m dying to know how his team plans to use him in this Tour de France—what his role and their tactics will be.

His performance at the Tour de Dauphine made it crystal clear that he has the immense power needed to conquer the mountain stages.

If the Red Bull Bora Team goes into this Tour de France with a dual-leader strategy, I’d say they have an even clearer advantage than the two powerhouses built solely around Tadej and Jonas!"

"Absolutely. After all, in this year’s Tour de France, Red Bull Bora is the only team that appears to have two top-tier GC Cyclists.

If Huang Chong can replicate his top-tier teamwork with Primož in the mountain stages of the Tour de France, just like he did at the Tour de Dauphine, then even riders as strong as Tadej and Jonas will have a hell of a time trying to drop them!

But the Tour de France is a long race. Maintaining his peak performance all the way to the final week will certainly be the biggest test for Huang Chong.

Let’s follow the race cameras and see how it all unfolds!"

Meanwhile, in China, the sole official broadcasting platform had even invited an unprecedentedly large three-person professional commentary team to provide wall-to-wall coverage and analysis of the Tour de France.

This alone was enough to show just how much importance the country placed on this year’s Tour de France, now that it featured a Chinese competitor.

Moreover, due to the time difference between Europe and Asia, the Tour de France broadcast in China started at around 6 p.m. and continued until about midnight, landing it squarely in the primetime slot.

As a result, the number of fans tuning in to watch road cycling reached an all-time high.

This was especially true since Paris, France, would host the Olympic Games immediately after the Tour de France.

And since Huang Chong had single-handedly secured two spots for his country in the Olympic road cycling event, the national sports authority had already announced that he and China’s strongest Road Cyclist, Lü Xianjing, would team up to represent the nation at this year’s Games.

In short, in the eyes of many new fans in China who were just getting into the sport, watching the Tour de France to learn the rules was just a way to treat this pinnacle of professional cycling as a warm-up race for Huang Chong before the Olympic Games—

but in reality, only Huang Chong himself knew the truth. The roster for the Paris Olympic Games road race didn’t include Pogačar or Vingegaard; in the eyes of most international pros, the event wasn’t that important.

At least in the world of road cycling, the most prestigious races were, first, the Tour de France, and second, the World Championships.

Of course, before the Tour de France began, Huang Chong had already spoken with Coach Han, the head coach of the National Team.

He had confirmed that he would represent the country at both the Olympic Games and the World Championships this year.

But back to the race.

By the 156-kilometer mark, after a relentless pace had seen them over two second-category climbs and two Third Category Climbs, the peloton arrived at the final second-category climb: the Côte de San Leo—

It was there on the 4.8-kilometer-long steep slope, with an average gradient of 7.7%, that the Team DSM veteran, Romain Bardet, suddenly attacked from the main group, launching a solo breakaway.

As a reincarnator, Huang Chong knew exactly what was about to happen: Bardet’s solo attack would allow him to successfully link up with his teammate in the breakaway, Vandenbroucke, and ultimately win the first stage of this year’s Tour de France.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t change this outcome.

He knew that if he chased right now, not only would Romain Bardet be caught, but his own attack would force a reaction from all the other team leaders.

But at the end of the day, Bardet wasn’t a contender for the overall title.

The man just wanted to win one more Tour de France stage before he retired.

So, after a moment’s hesitation, Huang Chong chose to respect history, and to respect this veteran of the sport. He simply let the man ride away.