The earth-colored peaks towered like high walls on either side of the road.
After leaving the vast Gobi plains, an immense sense of desolation suddenly rushed over the riders.
Though he was surrounded by a peloton of more than a hundred riders, with a whole host of support and commissaire vehicles following before and behind, the dry landscape of the UAE, so far from the sea, deeply shocked Huang Chong, who had grown up amid the misty rains of Jiangnan.
They said the mighty power of nature could teach humanity humility.
At that moment, Huang Chong agreed with that statement wholeheartedly.
Being a professional rider was tough. Every day meant enduring wind and sun, but competing in all sorts of top-level races and seeing different scenery and wonders around the world was also a rather nice extra reward.
Putting victory and defeat aside, how many people got so many opportunities in one lifetime to take in the world's most magnificent landscapes?
Alright, back to the matter at hand. Huang Chong quickly stopped admiring the scenery and focused all his attention on the road ahead, behind, beside, and beneath him.
Adam Yates's crash, as well as his own crash before the finish of the first stage, were still fresh in his mind.
He did not want to crash in the peloton again because of a moment's distraction.
Soon, as the gradient steepened, Stewart, who had already taken two stages and led all four intermediate sprint points, was caught by the main peloton again with only 20 kilometers remaining.
As the black jersey returned to the bunch, all the riders finally began their assault on the final climb of Jebel Jais.
Faced with this winding mountain road of endless hairpins, once the main peloton entered the 5% climb, sprint leaders such as