Chapter 357 - 183: The First ITT Stage Arrives

Also, do you think he will become as formidable a presence as Tadej and stop your team from achieving a third consecutive championship?"

Vingegaard heard the two questions, pondered for a moment, and then said:

"I think it’s possible.

Huang Chong’s individual ability is truly incredible.

As a rookie who just joined the World Tour, he’s completely upended the typical break-in period that new riders go through at the highest level of competition.

However, the Tour de France is a long race, so talking about the final result right now doesn’t mean much.

We’ll just take it one step at a time."

"Alright, thank you for the interview, Jonas.

We look forward to you delivering more spectacular race moments for all the cycling fans around the world in the upcoming stages!"

...

After Stage 4, the next two consecutive race days were flat sprint stages.

Fortunately, Huang Chong managed to keep the Yellow Jersey through the first week’s only high-mountain stage.

This meant he would very likely wear the jersey of honor for all the races in the first week.

Of course, this year’s Tour de France introduced a gravel section (also called "white roads") for the first time in Stage 9, and this was Pogačar’s comfort zone.

After all, his terrifying dominance in Italy’s spring Strade Bianche every year was simply daunting.

This year, he even won with a solo breakaway of a full 80 kilometers.

It got to the point where a dust-covered Pidcock could only curse wildly after the race.

Huang Chong wasn’t very confident that he could hold onto his Yellow Jersey through the final gravel stage of the first week.

He was only 8 seconds ahead of Pogačar.

Although he had ridden on gravel terrain in daily training as arranged by the team, racing and training were completely different. All he could do was try his best.

Stage 5.

Starting from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in France, the route went all the way to the finish line in Saint-Vulbas.

The total length was 177.4 km, with a total elevation gain of 1,126 meters.

Although it was a flat stage, there were still two Fourth Category Climbs along the way.

But the difficulty of these two climbs was too low, with average gradients of only 4.7% and 4.9% respectively.

Moreover, the second climb was located at the 143 km mark of the stage. After that, the nearly 30-plus kilometers to the finish were all Daping Road and high-speed descents.

So, this was a stage that belonged completely to the sprinters.

Just as before, Huang Chong was led away from the main peloton by his team’s domestiques with about 3 km remaining to the finish line.

He left the top sprinters from the various teams to fight for the stage win.

The final result was also exactly the same as in his previous life.

The Astana Team’s lead sprinter, Mark Cavendish, poured all his energy into the last dance of his career and successfully won his 35th career Tour de France stage, becoming an unprecedented record holder.

After crossing the line with the main group, Huang Chong, wearing the Yellow Jersey, naturally rode over to embrace the legendary rider and offer his congratulations.

Stage 6.

This was an even flatter stage than the day before.

Huang Chong would follow the main peloton from Mâcon, France, all the way to the eastern city of Dijon, a total distance of 163.5 km.

This stage had only one Fourth Category Climb, and it was located at the 10 km mark.

It was 1.7 km long with an average gradient of 5.8%.

After this Fourth Category Climb, the next 150 km were all perfectly flat asphalt roads.

Without a doubt, aside from dealing with the crosswinds on the plains, this was the easiest and most relaxed stage of the entire Tour de France.

In the end, the Jieke Team’s sprinter, Dylan Groenewegen, defeated the Green Jersey holder, Girmay, to win the stage.

Huang Chong, Pogačar, Vingegaard, and the other GC Cyclists couldn’t make any moves on a flat stage, so there were no changes in the standings for them or any of the top twenty riders in the general classification.

Only their total race times continued to accumulate.

However, when Stage 7 arrived, the time gaps between all the general classification riders were bound to change dramatically.

Because this was the first ITT (Individual Time Trial) stage of the Tour de France.

After the Tour de Dauphine, Huang Chong had deliberately focused on practicing his individual time trial, so he had high expectations for this stage.

’What place will I actually get?’

As the wearer of the Yellow Jersey and the last rider to start, it wasn’t just him who was curious; all the cycling fans around the world watching the Tour de France were also eagerly awaiting his performance.

After all, for a rider to achieve a high final ranking in the Tour de France, their time trial ability absolutely cannot be a weakness.

If anyone fell apart during the ITT, it would be a disaster from which there was no recovery!

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