At the summit of Cuitu Negru, mist swirled everywhere.
But compared with the fog-shrouded race Huang Chong had won alongside Roglič at the spring Critérium du Dauphiné, where the mountain mist had completely obscured everything, the cameras could at least clearly capture him crossing the line first today.
The scene made it seem as though he had shattered the layers of mist and claimed victory with supreme power, parting the clouds to reveal the sun. Such a sight was truly rare in the UCI WorldTour.
It could only be said that the high altitude, brutally steep slopes, and unpredictable weather of northern Spain had combined to create Huang Chong's dominant victory on the final race day of the second week.
After Huang Chong caught up to him, Vlasov no longer had any strength left to provide his leader with a tactical lead-out.
His condition had ultimately been affected by his Tour de France injury and lengthy recovery. Being able to hang on all the way until the final kilometer today was already an overperformance.
Yet the help he had provided Huang Chong during this stage could not be erased.
As he struggled to hold Castrillo's wheel, he not only prevented the latter from attacking without restraint, but also continuously provided his leader, who was charging up from behind on the steep slopes, with precise distance and time-gap information.
Information had always been an extremely important part of winning in road cycling.
After Huang Chong crossed the line first, Castrillo—the unquestionable best young rider of this Vuelta—followed him over the finish line, just around ten seconds behind.
For a rookie from a Pro team to lose only ten seconds to the Red Jersey rider who had practically steamrolled every opponent in this Vuelta on such a general classification stage, the value