The conversation between Eurosport's two hosts at that moment was entirely well-founded.
For the final race day of the second week of the Vuelta a España, every general classification team had basically made tactical arrangements and preparations in advance.
For Huang Chong, although his current lead in the general classification was enormous, the pressure on him was no less significant.
When every UCI WorldTour team had set its sights on attacking and overturning him, he could clearly feel that sense of danger from being targeted from all sides—even during the pre-race gathering, while everyone was still beneath the starting arch.
Those guys had spent five whole days taking it easy in the second week. Clearly, they were about to make their move.
Still, as the best rider who had worn the Red Jersey from day one and never taken it off since, he naturally felt pressure—but it was also motivation.
They wanted to overturn him today, but didn't he also want to seize this chance to crush everyone's hopes ahead of time?
"Huang, before the race starts, let me briefly go over our tactical plan again.
"Today's pace will definitely be very fast, so you need to be prepared for a war of attrition.
"I'll have our key domestiques handle the complicated situations, preventing the other teams from dragging you into their battles. We'll also have the main domestiques respond to attacks on the earlier climbs whenever possible, ensuring that you can advance steadily within the peloton and avoid unnecessary energy expenditure.
"For this stage, Lipowitz and Adria will spare no effort in leading and protecting you within the peloton.
"You just need to watch the GC riders from the other teams and save as much energy as possible for the final climb."
While the Vuelta a España organizers were