Chapter 448: In the Mountaintop Mist, a First Victory for the Golden Chariot

Chapter 448: Chapter 214: In the Mountaintop Mist, a First Victory for the Golden Chariot

For a professional Road Cyclist, whether on a low-level Intercontinental Team or a top-tier World Tour Team, the pressure on a team leader is always enormous.

Admittedly, a team leader earns the highest salary, enjoys the attention and media exposure that comes with great expectations, and has the entire team at their service—

But when the team finds itself in the most difficult situation, when all the domestiques are helpless, the team leader must step up and solve the problem with their own individual ability.

Currently, the pressure on Huang Chong at the Red Bull Bora Team was certainly less intense than that on Vingegaard and Pogačar.

Because he was only one of the team’s two co-leaders.

However, he was well aware that the pressure on him at the Tour of Spain was much greater than what he’d faced at the Tour de France.

The reason being, when the team set its roster for the Vuelta a España, the primary goal was for him to win the general classification.

Therefore, whether it was Martínez having an average day or Vlasov being in poor form, they could find plenty of excuses for a poor race result. He, however, could not.

“Huang, Martínez has dropped back from the breakaway group. Get ready to link up with him.”

Aldag relayed the message to Huang Chong, adding:

“His form is only average today, but as long as we get him back to the peloton and over this First Category Climb, he can rest on the long descent and still give you one last pull going into the final HC Level climb.”

Huang Chong felt no stir of emotion upon hearing the news.

Honestly, he didn’t have much faith in Martínez’s abilities.

For one, his riding style meant he naturally lacked sufficient explosive power.

For another, his form had been mediocre throughout this entire Vuelta a España.

Although Martínez had led him out on the final climb of Stage 8.

But the results had been underwhelming.

You could say he had built his current advantage almost purely on his own abilities.

Huang Chong thought for a moment before replying:

“Got it. How’s Vlasov’s condition?”

Aldag replied frankly:

“He’s fine for now, don’t worry. The UAE Team’s attack is aggressive, but Vlasov can handle gradients of around 10% without a problem.”

Hearing this, Huang Chong breathed an inward sigh of relief.

As long as he had at least one domestique up the road before the final HC Level climb, the pressure on him would be drastically reduced.

Having teammates ahead meant they could not only mark rivals but also fall back to support him later—a massive advantage for launching an attack.

However, compared to the Red Bull Bora Team’s situation, teams like the Movistar Team, Ineos, and the Israel-Premier Tech Team weren’t having such an easy time.

As UAE frantically pushed the pace on the First Category Climb, the riders that other teams had placed in the breakaway group were all dropped.

Lascano, O. Rodríguez, Meintjes, Frigo, Gregor, Sheen, and even GC contender George Bennett, who had made a risky breakaway attempt, were all dropped.

Conversely, the time trial specialist Stefan King, not known for his climbing, was constantly on the verge of being dropped yet somehow managed to hang on through the sustained attacks from Sivakov and his companion—

By the time Sivakov helped Vine take 10 points at the day’s second First Category Climb—securing the Polka Dot Jersey for him after this stage—the breakaway group, which had started with nearly 20 riders, had been whittled down to just seven.

The remaining riders were Sivakov and Vine of the UAE Team, Vlasov of the Red Bull Bora Team, Castrillo of the Kern Pharma Team, Constant Pash and Stefan King of the FDJ Team, and Amiel of the Decathlon Team.

Given this outcome, the GC-focused Decathlon and FDJ teams could breathe a small sigh of relief, likely sharing the same sentiment as Huang Chong.

The outstanding performance of their domestiques meant their respective team leaders—O’Connor, Gall, and David Gaudu—would receive continuous, real-time information heading into the final HC Level climb. It also preserved the possibility of those domestiques providing one last lead-out for their leaders later.

“The pace of today’s race has been relentless! This kind of brilliant, continuous attacking is the true charm of a top-tier Grand Tour!

Thanks to the teamwork and rotations of the two UAE riders, the breakaway group is now down to just seven men.

Sivakov helped his teammate take points at the First Category Climb for the second time today, successfully putting Vine in the Polka Dot Jersey after this stage. With that, Vine has accomplished his mission.

Now he’s moved to the very front of the breakaway, swapping roles with his teammate. It looks like he’s going to work as a lead-out for Sivakov.

Although the UAE Team’s initial four-man breakaway tactic was successfully neutralized by Huang Chong, their subsequent offensive plays have been spectacular.

And at the same time, they still have a hope of going for the stage victory—”

“That’s right. We’ve all seen what Sivakov can do on a climb.

He’s spent most of his time as a domestique assisting their team’s Core Commander, Tadej. But here at the Vuelta a España, with one of their leaders out with COVID and the other unable to find his peak form, what will Sivakov do now that he’s been given the green light to attack for himself?

It’s truly something to look forward to!”

“But even as we focus on the breakaway, with the final HC Level climb drawing ever closer, the GC contenders will surely launch their attacks in the final stages.