Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

"This is obviously a move to spare no effort in the first four climbs, wearing down the riders of other teams for Huang Chong—"

The team directors of the other teams present, of course, understood the point Steve was making on the live broadcast even more clearly.

But understanding it was one thing; could any team actually stop or disrupt the Bora Team’s plan?

That was an answer no one would know until the final climb up Mammoshain.

Back in the race, the ones suffering the most from Bora Team’s furious pace-setting were likely the three breakaway riders.

Before the climbs began, their lead had been about six minutes.

But by the time they descended from the first major climb, their time gap had shrunk to just under three minutes.

And after the first passage over the Feldberg, they would have to immediately climb Mammoshain twice in a row, at the 91km and 107km marks—

For the breakaway riders, the difficulty of such climbs was undoubtedly brutal.

Ultimately, it came as no surprise that under Bora Team’s relentless control, all three breakaway riders were caught by the main group as it reached Mammoshain at the 107km mark.

Of course, this came at a cost. Due to the frenetic pace, Bora had already burned through two of their domestiques. Now, along with the larger riders they themselves had dropped on the climb, they were left far behind the main group.

But being dropped was part of the job. Their team mission was complete. For the rest of the race, they would try to finish if they could, but if they truly couldn’t keep going, it was fine to just DNF.

After the second pass of Mammoshain, the peloton had no time to breathe, immediately facing the second ascent of the Feldberg.

Bora Team’s German national champion, Buchman, had been in poor form since the start of the season, but as long as he wasn’t fighting for the overall victory, he could still put in a strong performance on the climbs.

So, without a second thought, he moved to the front of his team and continued to lead Huang Chong and the others toward the Feldberg.

After Buchman took over the lead as planned, Aldag immediately said over the radio:

"Buchman, you can go all-out on this next climb. Don’t save any energy."

Upon receiving the order, Buchman complied without a word and immediately began putting out maximum effort.

Although they were climbing the same mountain, the road for this ascent was completely different from the first one.

While both routes up the Feldberg had an average gradient of around 5%, the final 2km of this second ascent were slightly steeper, with the maximum gradient reaching 8.3%.

As Buchman set a suicidal pace at the front, the peloton began to fracture rapidly on the long climb.

Riders like UAE Team’s Politt, a specialist in flat classics, began to get dropped after holding on for a while.

Eventually, a lead group of only about forty riders formed.

Huang Chong’s riding posture remained steady. Although Buchman was pulling an average speed of around 28-30 km/h on the long 5% climb, Huang Chong was tucked in behind his teammate, so his power output wasn’t high—only a little over 300 watts.

For him, this power level was squarely in Zone 2 aerobic riding, practically effortless.

However, just as the main group reached the steepest section of the Feldberg, only a few hundred meters from the summit, Bora Team’s Core Deputy Commander, Adrià, suddenly launched an attack without any warning, shooting out from the peloton!

In truth, Adrià’s abilities were not weak at all. If not for Huang Chong, Bora Team would have designated him as their leader for this race.

He was more than capable of fighting for a top result among today’s field of riders.

But with all the other teams focused on Huang Chong, they were completely unprepared for his sudden breakaway.

And so, nearly every rider in the peloton could only watch helplessly as he pulled further and further away on the steep slope, about to be the first to crest the summit and begin the descent.

"Oh my god!

Adrià from the Bora Team has launched an attack! What kind of tactical strategy is this?

He’s Bora Team’s strongest domestique, yet he didn’t stay to protect Huang Chong—

Could it be that Bora Team using Huang Chong as their leader was just a decoy, and their real contender for the win is actually Adrià?"

On European Sports, Steve was somewhat incredulous as he watched the scene unfold.

"That’s a definite possibility. At least for now, it’s clear the other teams were completely unprepared for Adrià’s attack. Not a single rider has responded—

They were all so focused on Huang Chong. Even we thought Bora would build their entire race around him.

But Aldag’s tactical planning is clearly a step ahead of everyone!"

Jimmy’s voice grew excited as he watched Adrià go solo, quickly opening a gap of over half a minute on the peloton.

In fact, besides the riders on the Bora Team, who knew Adrià would attack early, no other team had anticipated this.

After all, when your team has a top rider second only to Pogačar, why would you send your Core Deputy Commander on a breakaway? What was the endgame?

This is too damn aggressive!

If Huang Chong, now without the help of his Core Deputy Commander, was worn down by other teams’ attacks before the final climb, and if Adrià couldn’t make it to the finish, it was highly likely their efforts would all be for nothing, leading to a bitter defeat—

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