Ending the Suspense Early, Tour de France Champion (Please Subscribe)

Froome was in average form today, having expended too much energy on the mountain stages.

Even so, putting 1 minute 28 seconds into him over 22 kilometers was still utterly outrageous.

The speed displayed in the bottom-right corner of the broadcast for Huang Kaiwen had never dropped below 50 kilometers per hour, and had even surged past 80.

Some commentators could hardly believe it. They thought Huang Kaiwen's average over 22 kilometers was 1 minute 28 seconds faster, which would have been fairly normal.

And that would have been the sort of result expected from a top ITT rider.

But Huang Kaiwen had completely crushed Froome, the biggest favorite in the individual time trial.

Huang Kaiwen had already led Froome by 2 minutes 25 seconds before this. If he added another minute and a half or more in the ITT, Froome had no chance.

Only after repeated confirmation did they realize Huang Kaiwen truly was moving that fast.

Even Tony Martin, currently the fastest rider, was still well behind Huang Kaiwen at the 22-kilometer checkpoint. Now everyone was waiting for Huang Kaiwen's final time.

Tony Martin temporarily held first place with 36 minutes 29 seconds, while Froome was second with 36 minutes 41 seconds.

Watching Huang Kaiwen's speed repeatedly hit 80 and 85 kilometers per hour, some people already knew today's victory belonged to him.

Even when his speed came down, he maintained around 78. On uphill sections, Huang Kaiwen still held a speed close to 40 kilometers per hour.

Some riders from other teams watched the television with faces like they were constipated, especially those who had been blown apart by Huang Kaiwen and missed the time cut.

Thirty riders had been eliminated in ten stages, more than half again as many as before.

Now, seeing the supposedly exhausted