For professional road cyclists, whether they rode for a lower-tier Continental team or the highest-level UCI WorldTour team, the pressure on a team leader was always immense.
Granted, the leader earned the highest salary on the team, enjoyed the attention and media exposure of countless fans, and had every member of the team working for him—
But once the team fell into its toughest situation, when all the domestiques were helpless, the leader had to step up and solve the problem with his own ability.
Huang Chong's pressure at Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe was certainly less than that of Vingegaard or Pogačar.
Because he was only one of the team's two leaders.
Still, he knew perfectly well that his pressure at the Vuelta a España was far greater than it had been at the Tour de France.
The reason was that when the team selected its Vuelta lineup, the original goal had been for him to contend for the overall title.
So whether Daniel Martínez was in ordinary form or Vlasov was out of form, they had plenty of excuses for a poor result. Only he did not.
"Huang, Daniel Martínez has dropped back from the breakaway group. Get ready to link up with him."
After passing the message to Huang Chong, Aldag continued, "His form isn't great today, but as long as he can get back to the peloton and ride through this Category 1 climb with you, he'll get some rest on the long descent. Once we enter the final HC climb, he can still give you one last lead-out."
Huang Chong remained calm when he heard the news.
To be honest, he no longer had much hope in Daniel Martínez's abilities.
First, the other man's riding style meant he naturally lacked enough explosive power.
Second, his form throughout this