The entire process took less than twenty seconds.
It showed just how nimble the World Tour Team doctors were.
They were almost on par with a top-tier F1 pit crew.
And as his right arm was wrapped in gauze, the Kanarieberg climb officially began.
As expected, Van Boppel, who wasn't a strong climber to begin with and had just put in a pull for Huang Chong, was instantly dropped on the 12.1% gradient after Visma Team riders Jorgenson and Tiesj Benoot deliberately picked up the pace.
At the same time, he wasn't the only one dropped. Out of a leading group of more than twenty riders, only Alberto Bettiol and Michael Valgren of the EF Education Team—who had been blown away by Huang Chong in the Milan-Turin Race—and FDJ Team's Stefan King were able to hang on through the brutally difficult climb.
