The race still began at 11:20 a.m.
Today's weather was better, with only occasional cloud cover.
But for all the riders, as long as it did not rain in the height of summer, the heat was still unbearably stifling.
After the peloton set off, during the opening phase of the race, Huang Chong only needed to sit in the bunch and draft.
In the lineup Aldag had sent out this time, aside from him, there were also two riders skilled at climbing.
They were German veteran Ben Zwiehoff and Spanish rider Roger Adrià, who had also joined Bora Team this season.
As the S1 stage winner, Sam Welsford wore the orange leader's jersey today.
And the team holding the general classification jersey had to take responsibility for leading the peloton.
So for today's stage, Huang Chong would not be the only workhorse. The team's other two climbers would also be workhorses.
They had to move to the front of the peloton and take turns pulling.
The first 10 kilometers of the race began with a long, gentle incline, and the peloton remained largely unchanged.
It was not until they neared the Category 2 climb at the 10-kilometer mark that the riders aiming for the polka-dot jersey began accelerating toward the summit of Ashton.
After passing the Category 2 climb, just like yesterday, three riders took the opportunity to launch a breakaway.
They quickly stretched their gap over the peloton to more than five minutes.
Unfortunately, one of the breakaway riders suffered a mechanical issue. His bike broke down, and he could only watch as the other two breakaway riders quickly dropped him.
And once he was dropped, it meant he had completely lost his chance to contest the sprint and climbing points.
The purpose of a breakaway was originally to