Chapter 447 - 213: None of Them Will Escape Today

"They’re being so aggressive today. It looks like not only are they letting Vine go for the Polka Dot Jersey, but they also want to repeat the breakaway tactic they used on Stage 9 during this first climb, allowing Adam Yates to close the gap in the general classification."

"Yes, the UAE Team had Vine and Soler attack separately today, and they successfully set the stage for their team leader to make a move on the steep slope. Their tactical execution has been absolutely brilliant.

If Sivakov can get away again, their team will have four riders in the breakaway. Meanwhile, they’ll still have McNulty and Del Toro to run interference in the peloton. That would create an incredibly powerful rotation.

The peloton would have a very difficult time chasing down a top-tier four-man group like that."

"But Huang Chong, in the Red Jersey, has personally responded to Sivakov’s attack!

He’s glued to his wheel, clearly not about to let the UAE Team’s plan succeed!

And with the Red Jersey personally joining the chase, the leaders of the other teams have all sprung into action.

It looks like Sivakov isn’t getting away—"

Steve hadn’t even finished his sentence when Huang Chong did, in fact, catch Sivakov’s wheel.

The entire peloton then picked up the pace, drawing closer and closer to the summit.

As the main group crested the summit and started the descent, Huang Chong threw in a few hard pedal strokes and brought the breakaway group with Soler right back.

Next, once all the teams’ support riders made it over the summit, they regrouped with the peloton on the descent and organized a chase. They even managed to reel in the group at the very front.

And so, after the first categorized climb, the race was back together, just as it was at the start.

It was back to square one.

Huang Chong glanced at his system stopwatch. So far in the race, they had ridden a total of 57 km, passed through a difficult First Category Climb with an average gradient of 8%, yet the average speed was 40 km/h.

This was enough to show that the intensity of today’s race was absolutely brutal.

’But he knew that even though he had personally neutralized the UAE Team’s attack, this current calm pace wouldn’t last.’

When all the riders reached the foot of the mountain and were about to enter the second section, a Third Category Climb, the second wave of breakaway attacks began, just as expected.

This time, the group of support riders launching the breakaway was clearly much stronger.

Most of them still came from the general classification teams: Soler from the UAE Team.

Amiel from the Decathlon Team.

Jonas Gregor from the Lotto Team.

Riley Sheen from the Israel-Premier Tech Team.

Constant Pash from the FDJ Team.

Louis Meintjes from the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux Team.

Castrillo from the Kern Pharma Team.

And Ion Izagirre from the Cofidis Team.

The peloton’s initial reaction to this new eight-man breakaway was relatively calm.

But when the race reached the 60 km mark and the riders officially entered the Third Category Climb, Sivakov of the UAE Team once again launched an attack on the climb.

This time, Huang Chong didn’t respond himself.

As the Core Commander, it was impossible for him to respond to every attack himself. It was their team’s Core Deputy Commander, Vlasov, along with Paret Peintre of the Decathlon Team, who immediately latched onto Sivakov.

In any case, letting Sivakov ride off alone to join Castrillo—who had already won a stage—in the breakaway group up ahead was a risk the Red Bull Bora Team was completely unwilling to take.

This Third Category Climb wasn’t very difficult, but with the Quick Step Team frantically setting the pace for the peloton, the riding was still very hard.

After reaching the summit, Vine of the UAE Team, who was aiming for the Polka Dot Jersey, launched another attack on the descent, preparing to chase the leading group.

He needed to get the climbing points at the second First Category Climb.

However, his attack pulled a whole host of other riders along with him into the breakaway.

Martínez from the Red Bull Bora Team went right with him.

Seeing that the Red Bull Bora and Decathlon Teams had both sent support riders into the breakaway, the other GC teams couldn’t just sit back and do nothing; they all sent their own support riders up the road as well.

These included Lascano from the Movistar Team, Stefan King from the FDJ Team, óscar Rodríguez from the Ineos Grenadiers Team, and so on.

The Israel-Premier Tech Team made the biggest gamble, sending their general classification leader, George Bennett, into this breakaway to link up with his support rider.

A few kilometers later, Vine’s group successfully caught the leading group at the very front.

A massive breakaway group of about twenty riders was formed.

Looking at this leading group, the general classification teams had basically all placed one or two support riders in it.

Only Quick Step and the EF Education Team had not sent anyone to participate in the breakaway.

But their support riders were currently taking turns controlling the peloton, keeping the time gap to the breakaway group at around two minutes.

This time gap was considered within a controllable range, so not participating in the breakaway was hardly a problem.

However, when the breakaway group was the first to enter the second First Category Climb, Sivakov and Vine took turns launching powerful attacks on the steep slope, and the breakaway group of about 20 riders was quickly shattered.

The Red Bull Bora support rider, Martínez, whose form throughout this entire Vuelta a Espa?a had been very average, was, surprisingly, the first climber to be dropped by them on the steep slope!

When this news reached Huang Chong, it was undoubtedly a terrible development.

’If Vlasov can’t hang on either, I’ll be in a very difficult position leading into the final climb.’

After all, his team wasn’t controlling the peloton today.

If the Quick Step Team refused to help with the chase, then with Sivakov and Castrillo working together in the break, his chances of winning the stage would plummet.

So he could only pray that his Core Deputy Commander, Vlasov, wouldn’t get dropped from the breakaway like Martínez had.

But to be honest, Vlasov’s form in this Vuelta a Espa?a wasn’t very good either.

His unexpected withdrawal from the Tour de France due to injury had a huge impact on his training intensity and his ability to maintain his form.

’Can he really keep up as Sivakov makes this powerful selection?’

At that moment, Huang Chong even began to mentally prepare himself for a solo attack over the last seven or eight kilometers of the final climb.

’Vlasov is my teammate and Core Deputy Commander, but when facing an ultra-difficult HC Level climb, it ultimately comes down to my own raw power.’

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