Free Web NovelChapter 142: Chapter 110: A 45km Tug-of-War for the Polka Dot Jersey
"Besides, if we can’t compete for the overall championship, everyone’s prize money will take a hit. It won’t just be significantly reduced; it might disappear entirely.
So what reason do we have to be discouraged now?
Everyone, hurry up and get ready, then rest. In tomorrow’s mountain stage, we will be the ones to attack.
Not only are we going to take back the Polka Dot Jersey from that kid, but we’re also going to drop him completely and strip the Yellow Jersey right off his back!"
...
「The next morning.」
Huang Chong and his National Team teammates went as a group to the sign-in wall at the starting line to check in and sign their names, just as they always did.
But as the wearer of the Yellow Jersey, he couldn’t start with his teammates today.
Because as the owner of the leader’s jersey, he and the other three jersey wearers would start in the front row, ahead of the main group. They would line up on the starting grid beneath the arch, on spots marked with the colors of their respective jerseys.
This was a special privilege reserved for the riders in the jerseys of honor.
When Huang Chong arrived at his Yellow Jersey spot on the grid, the people of Guiding County lining both sides of the road applauded him enthusiastically once again. They sent off their local champion rider on his way to the next county in Qinghai: Huzhu County.
Then, when the start time arrived, five race officials simultaneously raised their starting pistols and fired, signaling the start of the race.
The riders were then led by the chief referee’s car on a parade lap through Guiding County Town, allowing the four jersey wearers to soak in the cheers and encouragement from the local fans.
Once they left the county town limits, the referee’s car pulled off the main road, and the riders were free to race.
As Huang Chong had expected, the moment the parade lap ended, he saw the Medellin Continental Team from Colombia and the Bardiani Pro Professional Team from Italy quickly form up. They shot to the very front of the main group and began controlling the pace and pulling.
As they gathered, Huang Chong noticed the riders from both teams glance over at him.
The meaning was unmistakable. Their eyes were clearly telling him:
’That Yellow Jersey you’re wearing is ours. You can’t hold on to first place in the general classification—’
Wearing the champion’s jersey, Huang Chong had, of course, long anticipated being targeted every day from now on.
Even though these guys were foreign visitors, road cycling is a competition of raw leg power.
They don’t care if you’re racing on home turf or feel they should cut you some slack.
So, as the main group rode out of Guiding County and finished the short flat section, they began the approach to a First Category Climb that was 17.3 km long with an average gradient of 5.9%. The riders from the Medellin and Bardiani teams immediately picked up the pace, accelerating furiously on the long climb.
It was as if they wanted to use the difficult climb to test the recovery abilities of Westerners versus Easterners, attempting to drop Huang Chong head-on.
However, on the 5.9% climb, Huang Chong was tucked inside the main group, drafting and riding aerobically. He wasn’t even breathing hard.
His National Team members, on the other hand, were a different story. Although they were giving their all to pull for him as Coach Han had instructed, they had almost all been dropped with about 6 km still to go to the First Category Climb.
Before the race, Huang Chong had also test-ridden Stage 3 from Guide to Huzhu, so he knew exactly how steep the final 6 km of this First Category Climb were.
According to the segmented elevation profile provided by the organizers, the gradient for the final 6 km, broken down by kilometer, was: 6.5%, 8.4%, 7.5%, 8.8%, 7.4%, and 6.9%—
On a climb of such difficulty, the result was predictable.
With the foreign riders deliberately increasing the pace, all the Chinese riders except for Huang Chong and Lü Xianjing in the blue jersey were dropped. The entire peloton was shattered.
The group of over 140 riders was suddenly reduced to just over 20 as they hit the 8.8% gradient.
Among those who were dropped were the Norwegian rider Stensby Anton, who had inherited the Polka Dot Jersey from Huang Chong, and the Dutch rider Sinschek Nils, who had won the Green Jersey by aggressively contesting the sprints in the first two stages.
The fact that the two foreign riders among the four jersey wearers were the first to be dropped on the climb, while the two Chinese riders were still holding fast to the lead group, was a huge shock to all the international teams competing in this year’s Tour of Qinghai Lake.
’What the hell is going on?’
’The European rider in the King of the Mountains Polka Dot Jersey was actually the first to get dropped on a climb?’
’Even if Stensby Anton wasn’t a true climber and only had the Polka Dot Jersey because Huang Chong was in yellow, how could he be dropped before the two Chinese riders? They managed to drop their own guy first?’
’This is just absurd!’
At that moment, Huang Chong, still lurking at the back of the lead group, glanced around and saw that besides Lü Xianjing, there were indeed no other familiar Chinese faces.
Coach Han’s plan from last night for the National Team members to lead him to the First Category Climb had clearly been nothing more than a pipe dream.
Faced with the accelerated pace deliberately set by the foreign riders, not a single one of his teammates could hang on until the First Category Climb.
However, while he and Lü Xianjing were the only local riders left, the foreign riders signed by the Huaxing Team—Smit Willie and De Rossi Lucas—and the foreign rider signed by Li Ning Star—Campos Roniel—were all still in the lead group.
Even though these three were foreigners, they were signed to Chinese Intercontinental Teams and would certainly have enough professional integrity to do their jobs.
So they quickly formed a group and, with Lü Xianjing, continued to follow the riders from the main foreign teams: Medellin, Bardiani, Black Rims, Corratec, Burgos, and Euskaltel-Euskadi.
Huang Chong had no teammates left at this point, but he wasn’t stupid. He immediately tucked in behind the Huaxing Team riders to draft.
After all, the Huaxing Team was a local team, and his goal was aligned with Lü Xianjing’s: to fight for national points.
If their combined efforts really did secure a second Olympic spot for their country, it was highly likely the two of them would be competing together at the Paris Olympic Games next year.
Therefore, in Huang Chong’s view, Lü Xianjing probably wouldn’t have any negative feelings about him drafting off them.
And things turned out just as he thought. Although Lü Xianjing had a rather serious expression and they had never spoken privately before, he didn’t seem to have the slightest objection to Huang Chong drafting behind him.
They were both Chinese, and right now they were facing a deliberate, coordinated attack from foreign riders. How could Lü Xianjing not unite with Huang Chong?
In the end, with the steady pace set by the Huaxing Team members, Huang Chong safely navigated the two consecutive difficult climbing sections—the 8.8% third-to-last segment and the 7.4% second-to-last segment. He successfully entered the final kilometer of the climb to the First Category Climb, with an average gradient of 6.9%, still with the lead group.
As the kilometers ticked by, with only 300 meters left, Huang Chong saw the blue road signs on either side of the First Category Climb, both marked with "KOM".
This was the First Category Climb that everyone had been fighting for, pulling furiously for the entire 45 km since the race began.
The first rider to cross the white line painted on the road ahead would earn 10 climbing points.
While these points weren’t enough to surpass Huang Chong—who had earned 20 climbing points for being first over the HC Level climb yesterday—and take his Polka Dot Jersey, today’s stage also featured one second-category climb (5 points) and two Third Category Climbs (2+2 points).
If a single rider could sweep first place on all of today’s climbs, they could rack up 19 climbing points.
That would put them just one step away from Huang Chong’s 20 points!
However, just as all the teams’ climbers were harboring their own schemes, watching each other’s lead riders while preparing to launch an out-of-the-saddle attack at any moment—
Huang Chong, who had been at the very back of the group, suddenly got out of his saddle and started his attack with only 150 meters left to the First Category Climb.
He not only shot to the front of the group but, after overtaking all the other climbers, continued to charge towards the summit.
His move instantly threw the entire lead group of climbers into a panic.
Everyone knew full well that if he, the current holder of the Polka Dot Jersey, also took the 10 points from this First Category Climb, he could lock up the jersey for this year’s Qinghai Lake Cycling Race right then and there. With a 30-point advantage, he wouldn’t even have to contest any more climbs in the remaining five stages.
A Polka Dot Jersey—that’s worth 50,000 US Dollars!
Who wouldn’t want that?
So, upon seeing him launch the first attack, the lead riders didn’t dare to scheme against each other any longer. At around the 150-meter mark, they all launched their own attacks one after another, chasing after Huang Chong at the front!
