Chapter 438: Getting Too Close to a New Sun, You'll Be Burned All the Same (Part 3)

Chapter 438: Chapter 210: Getting Too Close to a New Sun, You’ll Be Burned All the Same (Part 3)

“We need to save our strength for the final week, and I predict Decathlon and Movistar Team won’t launch any attacks during the second week, either.

That’s why I want you to build a bigger lead early. Then, even if O’Connor gets into the breakaway again, we’ll have greater control.”

In the end, Huang Chong couldn’t refuse the team director’s plan. He replied:

“Understood. Have Vlasov and Martínez pick up the pace now. Let them thin out the peloton some more. Once they’re done with their pull, I’ll launch my attack!”

“Okay, get ready then.

After the summit, the rest of the way to the finish is a long descent and a flat road. Just hold a steady rhythm.

Remember, descending may be your strong suit, but this is the Vuelta a España. We don’t need to be as aggressive as in the Tour de France stages. Just make sure you finish safely.”

“Yeah, got it!”

As Huang Chong finished speaking, Vlasov and Martínez, riding ahead of him, quickly received the same order over the radio. They both turned to glance back at Huang Chong.

When they saw him nod, they immediately got out of their saddles on the steep climb, rocking their bikes to pick up the pace.

Vlasov was unconcerned by Huang Chong’s sudden rise, but Martínez, a veteran who had competed on the World Tour for years, had very mixed feelings.

On one hand, he was thankful to have such a phenomenal teammate on the squad.

If his teammate could win a top-tier Grand Tour, he, as part of the team, would also benefit immensely.

Not to mention, the guy was so frighteningly talented in his very first year; his potential was surely limitless.

On the other hand, with Huang Chong rapidly becoming a core member of the team, Martínez’s own status and access to tactical resources would be largely usurped.

Before Huang Chong’s rise, the plan had been for him to be the team’s second leader—just like at the Giro d’Italia. As long as his race schedule didn’t overlap with the team’s number one leader, Roglič, the entire race squad would be built around him.

Although he lacked the ability to contend for a Grand Tour’s general classification title, the difference in tactical status between a domestique and a team leader was night and day.

Once you gave up a leadership role, especially on a powerhouse team like Red Bull Bora, it was incredibly difficult to ever get that same level of dedicated team resources again.

But it had all happened too fast. Huang Chong’s rise was like a rocket launch; he seized every opportunity given to him. By the time they were racing together, Martínez’s fate as a domestique was already sealed.

So, even if Martínez had his reservations, he didn’t dare show them.

This was the super rookie the team had just signed for an annual salary of 4 million euros—only 500,000 less than Roglič’s. How could he possibly compete with that?

Now that the team wanted him to be a domestique, his best bet was to work hard and without complaint. Otherwise, it was uncertain whether he’d even have a spot on the team next year.

Professional cycling teams were ruthless. If you didn’t have the legs but dared to cause trouble, you’d be cast aside and relegated to fetching water bottles or warming the bench in the blink of an eye.

In the end, Martínez’s complex feelings were just a fleeting thought. Just like in yesterday’s summit finish stage, he once again began pulling for Huang Chong with all his might on the steep climb, ready to pull off only when his heart rate completely maxed out.

With his domestiques providing a lead-out, Huang Chong pushed forward for several hundred more meters. When there was only about 3km left to the summit, he finally launched his solo attack.

O’Connor and Mas knew, of course, that this attack from the kid from the East was aimed squarely at them.

They both wanted to respond, of course, but they simply couldn’t keep up.

In fact, if they tried to force the pace to follow him, they would most likely blow up on the spot.

During this year’s Giro d’Italia, O’Connor had tried to match Pogačar’s pace and ended up suffering a crushing defeat.

Now, at the Tour of Spain, facing a top rider so similar to Pogačar, it would be utterly stupid of him to blow up again.

To him, Huang Chong was like an entirely new sun.

Get too close, and you’d be burned just the same.

And so, both he and Mas could only watch helplessly as Huang Chong shot away from the peloton, once again widening his time gap over them in the general classification!