Upon receiving his orders, Portuguese rider António Morgado wasted no time. He got out of the saddle and began a frantic pursuit of Huang Chong.
As Morgado launched his pursuit, the UAE team director, just to be on the safe side, also notified the domestiques in the peloton, saying:
"The Bora Team's Chinese rider accelerated on the climb ahead.
He's trying to extend his lead.
Get to the front of the peloton, take over the pace-setting, and lead the chase for Del Toro."
But in truth, Huang Chong wasn't even going all out on the climb.
While this acceleration was indeed intended to thin out the breakaway group, his greater goal was to whittle down the peloton behind him on the stage's toughest 400-meter climb.
Being uniquely resistant to the heat, he was undoubtedly in the best physical condition of all the riders after so many days of racing.
Many of the other riders, however, were already utterly exhausted.
