Chapter 354 - 182: Joining Forces with Vingegaard, Claiming the First Tour de France Victory of His Career

Vingegaard had a rather introverted personality, but he never expected Huang Chong to take the initiative and suggest they work together.

Fighting Huang Chong for second place on the stage was far less important to him than closing the gap on Pogačar.

If the three of them could cross the finish line in the same group, even though his sprint on a flat finish was far inferior to Huang Chong’s and Pogačar’s, getting third place would be far better than letting Pogačar pull away by more than half a minute, just as Huang Chong had warned.

Third place also came with a four-second time bonus. Even if Pogačar crossed the line first, he would only lose six seconds.

So, after a moment’s thought, he made a decisive choice and replied:

"Alright. Once we reach the foot of the mountain, I can take turns pulling with you!"

Now that he had Vingegaard’s agreement, Huang Chong wasn’t worried he would go back on his word.

As the previous two-time Tour de France champion, Vingegaard’s tactics weren’t always well-liked, as he seemed to prefer drafting off others, but his character was trustworthy.

Because tactical choices were mostly decided by the team director, even a Tour de France champion like Vingegaard had no say in the matter.

So, without another word, Huang Chong got out of the saddle, powered past Vingegaard, and began to chase Pogačar on the descent.

Huang Chong’s descending skills were absolutely on par with Pogačar’s.

He had a stat of 90, and his current cornering ability was basically on the same level as Pidcock’s.

But the reason he wanted to work with Vingegaard, aside from catching Pogačar and protecting his Yellow Jersey as much as possible, was that he was also worried. If they each harbored their own selfish plans, they might end up being caught by Evenepoel, C. Rodríguez, and Ayuso.

The Ineos Grenadiers Team’s lead rider was a top-tier expert on descents.

With him leading the chase, if he and Vingegaard didn’t cooperate, it was very likely they would both be caught by the time they reached the foot of the mountain.

Right now, the two of them were only about seven seconds behind Pogačar, but they still had a 22-second lead on the solo-riding Evenepoel.

As long as he led Vingegaard on the descent, and the two of them worked in rotation afterward, it would be completely impossible for Evenepoel to catch them, given his descending ability.

In fact, the gap would only grow wider.

Huang Chong’s line on the descent was completely different from Vingegaard’s.

His entry and exit angles for the corners were much more extreme than Vingegaard’s, and thus he was naturally faster.

But to ensure their newly formed partnership held, he deliberately slowed down after exiting corners, constantly waiting for Vingegaard to catch up.

This undoubtedly reduced the efficiency of their chase of Pogačar.

If he didn’t have to wait for Vingegaard, Huang Chong was confident he could catch Pogačar on the descent by himself.

The awkward part was, even if he could catch him on the descent, he couldn’t guarantee he could stay with the "Martian" on the flat roads in the final few kilometers after reaching the foot of the mountain.

His opponent’s absolute power was, after all, a cut above his own; it was a gap in raw strength.

Therefore, he could only pin his hopes on Vingegaard, to see if the two of them, by taking turns breaking the wind, could manage to catch Pogačar.

With him leading the way, Vingegaard’s descent was indeed much easier.

Over the long, 15-kilometer high-speed descent, Pogačar couldn’t gain a single second on them; the gap remained steady at around seven seconds.

Meanwhile, Evenepoel, who was behind them, was clearly suffering from the psychological impact of his crash off a bridge during a descent in the Classics. His cornering was not only very stiff, but the time gap also widened from the original 22 seconds to 28 seconds.

Then, just before reaching the foot of the mountain, he was even overtaken by C. Rodríguez, who was pulling Ayuso and Roglič along with him.

Of course, once they hit the final flat section, Evenepoel would be unbeatable on the long straights.

His time-trialing ability was enough to let him defeat any opponent on flat ground.

However, once Huang Chong and Vingegaard hit the flat section with a 30-second lead on the group behind, it became completely impossible for that third group to catch up.

With only 3 kilometers left to the finish, Huang Chong, having just finished the descent, could even clearly see Pogačar up ahead, furiously riding solo.

The distance between them was only a few dozen meters.

He didn’t immediately ask Vingegaard to take a pull. Instead, he first used his anaerobic capacity to lead for two hundred meters before turning his head to signal Vingegaard behind him.

Vingegaard saw this and, true to his word, immediately got out of the saddle to overtake Huang Chong and continue the anaerobic chase of Pogačar.

After that, the two of them rotated every 200 meters or so. With 1.5 kilometers to go, they finally caught Pogačar, who had been on a solo breakaway for nearly 19 kilometers!

When Pogačar saw Huang Chong and Vingegaard catch up to him, his expression was undoubtedly grim.

But at this moment, the three of them were nearly 40 seconds ahead of the second group. Even if they couldn’t create a gap among themselves, they had already gained time on the other general classification riders.

Steve, who was commentating live, saw Huang Chong and Vingegaard work together to forcefully catch the soloing Pogačar, and he grew tense with excitement.

His speaking speed doubled as the words came pouring out in a torrent:

"The joint chase from the Chinese rider and Jonas is simply top-tier!

They managed to catch Tadej, who had broken away first, with only 1 kilometer left to the finish!

The suspense over the winner is back! Among these three, who will have the last laugh?"

"Judging by the outcome, their brief exchange on Galibier Pass was clearly to formulate a strategy to chase down Tadej!

I’m really curious who was the first to propose this temporary, cross-team cooperation.

Even though they’re from different teams, seeing them cross the line with Tadej, keeping the suspense for the general classification alive, is undoubtedly the most exciting scenario!"

Jimmy, sitting beside him, added with a smile.

"Only 800 meters left in the race!

Tadej, at the front of the group, keeps looking back.

He obviously knows that Huang Chong’s Sprinting Burst is no weaker than his own—

meters!

Huang Chong is still glued to Tadej’s wheel, with Jonas at the very back, but none of the three has made a move.

Look at their speed right now! My god, they haven’t even started sprinting, and they’re already hitting 65 kilometers per hour—

The final 200 meters!

Pogačar has finally entered his range! He’s getting out of the saddle and attacking!!

Huang Chong and Jonas react just as quickly!

But damn it, Jonas’s explosive power is clearly a step behind!

Just like his physique, he looks a whole size smaller than Huang Chong and Tadej in front of him.

The final one hundred meters!!!

Huang Chong is still locked onto Tadej’s slipstream, but can he overtake him?!

The final 80 meters!!!

After drafting for 120 meters, he finally changes his line!!

He pulls out from Pogačar’s left side!!

Oh, my God!!

His sprinting speed is actually faster than Tadej’s!!

The final five meters!!!

Huang Chong successfully overtakes Tadej and is the first to cross the finish line!!!

He’s really done it!!

This young rider from China has become the champion of Stage 4 of the Tour de France!!

He has successfully claimed the first victory of his Tour de France career!!"

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