Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

Although he was the Tour of Australia champion, Huang Chong, who had also ridden it, knew perfectly well that both Willunga Hill and Lofty Mountain were far too short compared to the two towering giants on the UAE Tour.

Vine could power over short, steep climbs like those, but when faced with a long, steep ascent like Jeb Hafeet Mountain, it was doubtful he could maintain his high level of performance all the way to the end.

This was why the UAE Team’s support squad for the Tour de France for the next two years would consist mainly of Adam Yates, Almeida, Sivakov, Soler, and Wellens, not Vine or McNulty.

And as Vine fell away, Huang Chong undoubtedly became the main target in the ever-shrinking group of climbers.

He could clearly feel that after Vine was dropped, riders from the Decathlon and Quick Step teams kept glancing over at him.

There was only one reason: he was now the best-placed rider in the general classification.

If O’Connor wanted to win the tour, he had to beat him.

However, with just 4.5 kilometers to the summit finish, Bilbao of the Bahrain Team was the first to launch an attack.

He timed his attack astutely. For the next kilometer, the gradient was incredibly steep—the second-steepest section on the entire Jeb Hafeet Mountain climb, just behind a 10.7% pitch.

The average gradient through this section would hit 8.7%.

However, the lead group, now down to just a dozen riders, couldn’t possibly let Bilbao—ranked sixth in the GC—get away. O’Connor was the first to get out of the saddle and give chase.

And even though Bilbao didn’t get away, his attack still managed to whittle down the group once more.

One of the casualties was Zwiehoff, who had been pacing Huang Chong up to this point. He couldn’t handle the surge and was forced to drop back.

Fortunately, Buchman, who had been in the breakaway all day, was still up the road ahead of the group.

Huang Chong only had to look up to see him about 150 meters away, but on this steep slope, that distance translated to a lead of nearly a full minute.

The other teams were well aware that Buchman was up the road. So, after Bilbao was reeled in, and with 3.7 kilometers to go, Rubio of the Movistar Team launched another attack.

His objective was simple: catch Buchman on the steep section before Buchman could get closer to the finish. This would prevent him from providing one last lead-out—a final boost—for Huang Chong, who was still clinging tenaciously to the lead group.

"Huang, Zwiehoff is about to crack! You have to stay with the lead group on your own.

The next two kilometers of climbing will be the toughest part of the fight for the title. You have to hang in there!

Just get through this, and once you link up with Buchman, he’ll give you another pull before he’s completely spent."

The Bora Team’s coaching staff was, without a doubt, the most nervous group of people right now.

The team director’s palm, clutching the radio, was slick with sweat.

But you had to admit, so far, the pre-race strategy he’d devised was proving to be a resounding success.

He had put the entire team at Huang Chong’s service, protecting him until only four kilometers remained. He had also sent a rider into the breakaway to act as a satellite, controlling the time gap. As long as Huang Chong himself didn’t crack and could link up effectively with his teammate at the end, he had a real shot at winning the final stage.

After all, aside from O’Connor himself, all of the Decathlon Team’s domestiques had been dropped.

The only team that still had two riders in the lead group was Visma.

They were Attila Valter and Bart Lemmen.

You had to admit, the Visma Team riders were remarkably similar in character to their Core Commander, Vingegaard.

The team had a high proportion of pure climbers.

Their only weakness was a relative lack of explosive, instantaneous power.

Other riders couldn’t drop them on a climb, but they also struggled to shake anyone off with a powerful sprint.

Visma’s tactics seemed designed to wear down their rivals bit by bit on brutally hard climbs, relying on their riders’ sheer threshold power.

However, as Movistar’s Rubio was caught once again, only three kilometers remained to the finish line.

By this point, Huang Chong’s lead group had successfully navigated all the most difficult sections of the Jeb Hafeet Mountain climb.

Over the next two kilometers, the average gradient would decrease to 5.5% and 5.1%, respectively.

The final kilometer’s average gradient was a mere 1.2%, making it almost as flat as a regular road.

And so, after cresting the 8.7% section, another rider went on the attack. This time it was Poole from Team DSM.

He decisively got out of the saddle and made a solo break as he hit the 5.5% section.

But this time, Van Wilder of the Quick Step Team led the chase, with the young upstart from the Lotto Team, Van Eetvelt, quickly latching on.

Both riders were from Belgium. Though on different teams, they were countrymen. Seeing this, Huang Chong naturally got out of the saddle for a few pedal strokes, choosing to follow them closely.

While he had no desire to attack prematurely, he wasn’t about to let an impromptu alliance of two countrymen just ride away from him.

As the race entered its final few kilometers and Poole was also reeled in, the situation grew incredibly tense. A flurry of attacks and counter-attacks ensued, yet no one could manage to break away. The spectacle had the coaching staff of every team, cycling fans around the world, and even the live commentators on the edge of their seats.