He also understood now that there was a good reason these riders formed the core of top-tier teams and commanded such high salaries.
Admittedly, neither Sindel nor Vlasov were among the top contenders for a race like the Liège Race.
But their stability provided a solid foundation. For Huang Chong, this meant he could conserve as much energy as possible for the final stretch, which was already a huge advantage.
Soon after the leading group of contenders merged, the pack of over forty riders headed for the Rozier Pass.
This climb was the longest of the entire race, 4.4 km in length with a total elevation gain of 563 meters.
On paper, the climb didn't seem too difficult. Aside from the first 500 meters, which hit a maximum gradient of 10%, the overall average was only 5.9%. But the riders had already covered 190 km over four hours and forty minutes. At this point in the race, even Huang Chong couldn't judge the climb's difficulty by the numbers alone.
