Chapter 380 190: Grand Showdown Between the Tricolor Jerseys on the Baiye Plateau

Hearing those words, Huang Chong could clearly feel his body—weary from two weeks and a full fifteen race days at the Tour de France—rapidly growing lighter.

His legs, which had felt so heavy, seemed to have instantly escaped the pull of gravity, making every pedal stroke as easy and effortless as when he first started the Tour de France.

'Gotta love the system's support medicine! Not only is the energy recovery immediate, but it has also wiped away all my accumulated fatigue from the previous races. Just like that, I'm back to full strength—'

Huang Chong gazed at the mountain climb looming just ahead. He pulled the last water bottle from its cage, took a large gulp, and rinsed out the sticky, gel-like residue in his mouth.

Then, as Jorgenson surged to the front of the peloton and began to charge up the 15.7-kilometer-long Baiye Plateau climb like a beast, Huang Chong decisively tossed his water bottle—still with a mouthful of water in it—choosing to shed every last gram.

Besides, there was a feed zone 10 kilometers from the finish where he could grab more water. He didn't need to carry that last mouthful for the next 5.7 kilometers of the climb.

And as Jorgenson launched an all-out, no-holds-barred attack, Huang Chong got to witness the man's true climbing ability.

Not only did he lead the peloton to quickly catch many of the breakaway riders on the climb, but by the time they were only 13 kilometers from the finish, his pace had shredded the group down to just ten men.

They were: Jorgenson himself, Vingegaard, Pogačar, Adam Yates, Huang Chong, C. Rodríguez, Evenepoel, Ciccone, Buitrago, and Gall.

In that stretch of less than 4 kilometers of climbing, Jorgenson had dropped Quick Step Team's Core Deputy Commander, Landa; Red Bull Bora Team's sole domestique, Sindel; and one of United Arab Emirates's most important climbing domestiques: Almeida.

But Jorgenson, a true madman, showed absolutely no hesitation today.

He maintained a high-intensity seated pace the entire time, not even bothering to look back at the group to see who was left, simply pushing forward with a kamikaze-like power output.

And so, after another kilometer, Buitrago, the leader of the Bahrain Victory Team, and Ciccone of the Trek Team were dropped one after another.

And with only 10.8 kilometers left to the finish, Ineos's leader, C. Rodríguez, was brutally dropped and began to fall behind.

He couldn't even make it to the point where he could link up with his breakaway teammate, De Plus, before he lost contact with the main group!

Professional road cycling has a strict rule: a rider already up the road cannot turn back to help their team leader.

So De Plus could either slow his pace and wait for his leader to catch up before starting to pull for him, or he could simply stop by the side of the road and wait.

However, Huang Chong, who was glued to Pogačar's rear wheel, had no energy to spare for the drama unfolding with the Ineos Grenadiers Team. All his focus was on the final 10-kilometer showdown.

True, his physical fatigue had been cleared away at the foot of the mountain, but his core power output wouldn't change.

So, facing a potential attack from Wen Bo at any moment, he had to remain completely focused.

If one of them opened a gap, chasing him down solo would be completely impossible.

Next, Jorgenson continued to pull on the steep slope for another 300 meters. With only 10.5 kilometers to the finish, he completely blew up.

Finally, the moment he pulled off the front, Vingegaard launched his first attack of this year's Tour de France!

His initial acceleration hit 600 watts, but compared to Huang Chong and Pogačar, this explosive power was of course much weaker.

But Vingegaard's strength has never been his explosive power, but rather his ability to sustain a high-threshold anaerobic effort over a long period.

Pogačar and Huang Chong, along with Evenepoel, naturally responded at once.

But Eve's performance on long, steep climbs never fails to disappoint; he started to get dropped after less than 100 meters.

Glued to Pogačar's wheel, Huang Chong glanced down at his power output. Even while drafting in third position, his Power-to-Weight Ratio had reached around 7.3.

For his weight, this required an average power output of over 470 watts.

Clearly, this was already his anaerobic zone.

As for Vingegaard attacking at the front, he didn't even need to guess. The man was lighter than him, so at this speed, his Power-to-Weight Ratio for these first few hundred meters had to be close to 8.0.

As for Pogačar, his would surely be about the same.

But Huang Chong could clearly feel that Pogačar, riding just ahead of him, was not under much pressure at all.

Not only was his upper body core incredibly stable, but his pedaling cadence was also perfectly even.

This could only mean one thing: Pogačar was still riding at his Zone 4 threshold. At most, only the few pedal strokes when he stood up to increase his cadence would have floated his power into the anaerobic zone.

'I have to say, that freakish level of strength is just terrifying.'

And under Vingegaard's all-out attack, none of the breakaway riders were spared.

With 9.3 kilometers remaining to the finish, the last breakaway rider, Carapaz, was also mercilessly caught.

But Carapaz was a true fighter. After being caught, he was clearly unwilling to give in, decisively latching onto Huang Chong's wheel and holding on for another hundred meters.

But the climbing ability of the three jersey wearers was simply on another level in this Tour de France.

Carapaz didn't last long before being dropped again.

After Carapaz fell back, Huang Chong glanced over his shoulder at him but immediately turned his focus back to the race.

Because Vingegaard's attack was still raging on.

It was a stunning, breathtaking scene.

The three riders, each in their distinctively colored jersey, led the charge up the Baiye Plateau climb as if it were flat ground, leaving Evenepoel, fourth in the general classification, far behind.

This was more than enough proof that the three of them were in a class of their own.

But more than whether Pogačar could stick with Vingegaard, what most people worried about was whether Huang Chong could hang on to the two Tour de France champions—and for how long?

After all, he had finished behind both of them yesterday. Today, everyone had a better understanding of his climbing ability—

Especially the fans back home. Seeing Huang Chong in the White Jersey desperately clinging to Pogačar's wheel, nearly everyone's heart rate was skyrocketing.

Everyone was terrified they would see Huang Chong suddenly get dropped from the final group of three on the live broadcast!

However, to the surprise of fans around the world—and even the main aggressor, Vingegaard, himself—Huang Chong seemed especially tenacious today. Even after Vingegaard had been attacking relentlessly for nearly 5 kilometers, Huang Chong still hadn't been dropped.

Although everyone could see that Huang Chong was clearly struggling on the Baiye Plateau climb, he just grit his teeth and held on.

And with only 5.4 kilometers left in the race.

Pogačar, who had already lost to Huang Chong in two finish-line sprints, glanced back at him, then decisively got out of the saddle and began to counter-attack Vingegaard.

Huang Chong wouldn't even think of chasing that freakish, anaerobic, out-of-the-saddle attack, even with his fatigue recovered.

He knew that even if he could keep up today, he wouldn't be able to keep it up for all the remaining stages of the race.

So he only sped up slightly, latching onto Vingegaard's wheel, and watched helplessly as the Yellow Jersey rapidly pulled away.

And even as Pogačar soloed away, Vingegaard's attack did not stop.

He had already beaten Huang Chong yesterday and had a rough idea of the latter's strength. So, even if he couldn't beat Pogačar this year, he was determined to secure second place in the general classification.

Ever since he started competing in Grand Tours, he had never finished lower than second place.

However, today, no matter how much Vingegaard accelerated, Huang Chong remained glued to his back wheel.

Final 1KM to the finish.

Pogačar's figure had completely disappeared. His real-time lead over the two of them had stretched to a one-minute advantage.

But Huang Chong was still grimly hanging on to Vingegaard.

It was as if Vingegaard were his mortal enemy; his ragged gasps and fierce gaze were locked onto the man in front.

Final 200 meters!

In the final stretch, Vingegaard decisively stood up and rocked the bike.

He knew he couldn't drop Huang Chong today, but he still had to fight for the time bonus for second place on the stage.

But the instant Vingegaard stood up, Huang Chong also got out of the saddle to follow.

Final 100 meters.

Vingegaard returned to a seated position.

But Huang Chong didn't sit back down. Using the last ounce of his strength, he stayed out of the saddle and sprinted all the way to the finish line, beating the reigning champion, Vingegaard, by about a bike length for a head-to-head victory on the Baiye Plateau!

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