Chapter 437: Getting Close to the New Sun, You'll Be Burned All the Same (Part 2)

Chapter 437: Chapter 210: Getting Close to the New Sun, You’ll Be Burned All the Same (Part 2)

Climbing such an incredibly difficult, steep slope in this scorching weather was truly grueling.

Only Huang Chong was unfazed by the heat, his riding rhythm remaining remarkably steady.

He remained seated for the entire climb, yet his upper body and core were rock-solid.

This stable pedaling efficiency and cadence continuously guaranteed a constant base power output.

This was significantly more energy-efficient than other riders, who had to frequently get out of the saddle to tackle the long, steep slope with gradients over 10%.

The difference in base power was a core metric for measuring the gap in raw strength between top-tier cyclists.

It was fair to say that among the current crop of World Tour Cyclists, aside from Pogačar and Vingegaard, practically no one could match Huang Chong’s ability on long, steep climbs.

This was why he could handle the Vuelta a España with such ease.

If the team wanted to concede time, they could.

If he personally wanted to create a gap, he could.

If he wanted to conserve his teammates’ energy, he could help them do it!

As the climb up the Puerto de El Purche ended, all the riders in the peloton could finally catch their breath.

Next, they would enter a long descent, riding all the way to the river valley at the foot of the mountain before beginning the final two high-intensity ascents of Hazallanas Mountain.

But without a doubt, Hazallanas Mountain was far more difficult than the Puerto de El Purche.

Right from the foot of the mountain, for four to five kilometers of winding road, the average gradient of each kilometer fluctuated between 12%, 13%, and 11%.

Sections with maximum gradients exceeding 20% appeared frequently.

Faced with such a high-intensity climb, the breakaway group of over twenty riders, which had held a lead of more than four minutes before the ascent, quickly began to fragment.

This was the very same climbing route used during winter training to prepare for the mountain stages of the Tour de France.

Unless they were truly top-tier riders, breakaway cyclists simply couldn’t hold on to the small advantages gained at lower altitudes on a mountain like this.

By the time the breakaway group reached the halfway point of the climb, the front of the group had already been whittled down to just three riders.

They were David Gaudu of the FDJ Team, and Vine and Adam Yates of the UAE Team.

This was something Huang Chong and Aldag had anticipated long ago.

Although the size of today’s breakaway was unprecedented, in the end, apart from these three long-established star riders, the rest were mostly just regular World Tour cyclists.

As the peloton and Carapaz began their pursuit of the leading trio, Adam Yates executed a move on a difficult corner. He had his teammate, Vine, position himself to block David Gaudu, allowing Yates to get out of the saddle and attack solo.

This news was, without a doubt, relayed instantly by every team’s director to their respective lead riders.

Huang Chong saw no need to react or respond to this development.

As far as he was concerned, if he wanted to give chase, there was no way Adam Yates could overturn his lead in the general classification.

The Decathlon Team’s domestiques, on the other hand, were tasked with the chase on this steep slope. They simply couldn’t handle the pace set by Adam Yates, and their numbers dwindled rapidly.

If this continued, all of their team’s domestiques would be dropped by the end of the first ascent of Hazallanas Mountain.

Fortunately, the Decathlon Team had come to this Vuelta a España well-prepared.

Even with all their domestiques dropped, the abilities of their two leaders were solid, and they were still able to stick firmly with the peloton.

With their domestiques gone, they had their other leader, Gall, continue to set the pace for O’Connor. The two worked together with remarkable efficiency and understanding.

The Vuelta a España, after all, was not the Tour de France; its pace and intensity weren’t as high.

If this were a mountain stage in the Tour de France, with the UAE Team setting a full-speed lead-out train for Pogačar on an HC Level climb, Decathlon’s two leaders would definitely not have the strength to keep up.

After the first ascent of Hazallanas Mountain was complete, the peloton descended to the foot of the mountain again for the final climb.

But since the Decathlon Team now had no domestiques left, the domestiques of the Red Bull Bora Team had no choice but to take over at the front.

However, by the time Martínez and Vlasov had led Huang Chong to the halfway point of the final ascent of Hazallanas Mountain, Aldag came over the radio with a question for Huang Chong:

“Huang, how are you feeling? What’s your condition?”

Huang Chong replied bluntly:

“No problem, Director. What’s up?”

“Here’s the situation. In the peloton right now, it’s basically just the leaders of the other teams sticking together.

Aside from our team, every other team has lost all their domestiques.

If you have the energy, I want you to use the remaining steep sections to open up a bit of a gap on the other general classification contenders.

Of course, I don’t need you to catch the two breakaway riders up front, Adam Yates and Carapaz. Just open up some time on O’Connor and Mas in the general classification.”

Huang Chong thought about it for a moment before replying:

“Is this to prepare for the second week of the race?”

“Yes. The terrain in the second week is very suitable for breakaways.

You’ve already taken three stage wins, so your opportunities to attack during the second week will be limited—really just the mountaintop finishes on stages 13 and 15.”