After the race started, many riders went for a breakaway.
In a stage race, the four leader's jerseys were not just about a rider's honor; they also directly impacted the prize money distribution.
The only jersey of honor the breakaway riders could fight for was the Dash King Green Jersey, so a breakaway was essential.
With Huang Chong on their roster, the Bora Team was the top favorite for the general classification at this year's Tour of Hungary. Naturally, they didn't join the breakaway. Instead, their job was to control the pace of the peloton and manage the time gap to the riders up front.
Huang Chong rode within the peloton. The early part of the race was basically an easy ride in Zone 2, and the gap to the breakaway riders held steady at two and a half minutes.
This was with the cruising speed held around 40 km/h.
It was clear that if the Bora Team had wanted to give a serious chase, they would have caught the breakaway long ago.
