Back in the game, I'm still the big devil

Stage 1: Flat stage.

The total length of the stage: 156 kilometers ①.

The starting city of this Tour de France is Nice. The riders will start from the most famous "Avenue of England" on the "Côte d'Azur", and ride through the countryside and small towns around this seaside city, passing through the big villas of the rich. , uphill and downhill along the shallow hills, and finally back to the "Road of England", where it rushed to the finish line.

The race director gestured on the navigation car: "Three, two, one—"

The Tour de France officially begins now.

The navigation car immediately began to accelerate, making way for the wide road track to become a stage for the drivers.

During the warm-up process, Roy has quietly "swimmed" to the far left of the entire convoy.

While the navigation car accelerated, Roy's feet also started to accelerate.

With an extremely well-proportioned and steady fast pace, he rushed out of the entire team group from the left and rushed to the front.

Race broadcast commentator Jacques Durand said loudly facing the microphone: "Dadi Team, the drivers of Dadi Team took the initiative to launch an attack! No. 143, this is the first 'attack' of this race!"

At the same time, he was looking up information quickly: No. 143... who is this?

In road cycling terminology, "aggression" refers to the sudden sprint of a rider at a higher speed in order to open a gap with the opponent.

This time it was Roy who took the lead and blew the horn of "attack".

Soon he was hundreds of meters away from the main force, leaving more than 100 opponents behind.

As soon as the game started, "Rabbit" jumped out with joy.

Roy isn't the only "rabbit," though.

After rushing out for a few kilometers, Roy began to look around, trying to understand the situation:

The "rabbits" rushing forward formed a "rabbit" team, with a total of fifteen or sixteen people from various well-known teams.

Regrettably, Roy's teammate, the red-haired Danish driver, Mikel Petersen, nicknamed "Rice", failed to follow the "Rabbit" team in the first place.

Roy didn't see him.

The voice of the head coach came from the headset, confirming the news:

"Roy, Rice couldn't keep up. You stay in front for a while and get more exposure, so as to make the sponsor fathers happy."

"Roy, why is your kid so lucky today?"

Assistant coach Pierre Lloris chimed in on the microphone over there.

Roy twitched the corners of his mouth, amused in his heart:

Where is his luck?

This is because he had been a rabbit in the "Team Continent" for several years before, and he is well versed in the various experiences of launching an "attack" at the beginning of the game.

But the coaching staff never thought of letting him fight for the stage championship, not once.

It's the same now-they think that if Roy can show his face to the sponsors in the game, it will be considered a success.

He couldn't keep up, and there was only Roy in the rabbit team, so the head coach asked Roy to "stay a little longer".

As for Roy, he has already started planning a second "offensive".

In Roy's view, what kind of "exposure" is being mixed among a dozen people?

The "rabbit" team with more than a dozen members will split up sooner or later, so it's better for him to strike again.

So, at the 45-kilometer mark, Roy took a corner and unexpectedly launched a second "attack".

His "offense" is very clever.

This corner is a big bend after going downhill, and everyone chooses to slow down here.

Roy was extremely bold and didn't slow down much.

He just managed to turn the corner by scraping the very edge of the road.

Rather than saying that his skills are enviable, it is better to say that his courage is admirable.

In case Roy made a mistake in his judgment and his speed was a little faster, he would rush straight to the curb and perform "the car turned on its back" in public.

But that's Roy's riding philosophy: in order to win, you have to take some risks.

And only the wisest players can grasp the nuances between "adventure" and "gamble".

These are the precious experiences given to Roy during the 17 years of his career before his rebirth.

After turning the corner, Roy continued to sprint with the high speed brought to him by the downhill.

He successfully rushed out of the "rabbit" group, leaving behind all his opponents who rode side by side for more than 40 kilometers.

"Roy, it's great—" the assistant coach shouted excitedly from the headset.

The head coach Victor didn't make a sound, obviously not very satisfied with Roy's "adventure".

In front of Roy, the photographer who is responsible for following the players is sitting on the back seat of the motorcycle, adjusting the focal length of the lens——

This shows that from now on, the greatest attention and the most exposure will be given to him alone.

The fledgling Roy.

The chic and suave Roy.

Roy raised his head and smiled slightly in the direction of the photographer.

He knows that his smile in the camera at this moment can attract a large number of fans.

More importantly, the world's car circles will know Roy from today on.

And not just the No. 143 player in this Tour de France.

Unexpectedly, the next moment, the photographer shifted the lens and pointed at behind Roy.

Roy turned his head in surprise: he caught a glimpse of the familiar figure.

The distance between Arthur and him is only about 5-10 meters, and the distance is getting shorter.

This distance... Roy knew that he couldn't "fly solo" this time.

"Hey, you're coming up too!" Roy simply waited for Arthur, and when the two rode together, he greeted him.

After he said hello, he suddenly remembered his status as an "Arthur fan", and quickly put on a smile: "Arthur, I knew you would be able to keep up."

"Take turns?" Arthur didn't say a word of nonsense.

"Of course!" Roy replied.

Different from "solo", now they have two people, which can be regarded as a small "rabbit" team.

It takes less effort to ride behind other riders.The two of them took turns to take the lead, leading each other, so they could take turns to take a break and reduce a little physical exertion.

This can be regarded as an established rule in road cycling races, but there are always some "non-martial arts" riders who will ignore the rules and try to "rub" each other's physical strength.

Roy is not this kind of person, and he also knows that Arthur is not this kind of person.

On this point, the two easily reached a tacit agreement.

"Arthur, how many kilometers do you think we can lead?"

After half of the race, Roy suddenly asked Arthur beside him.

Arthur let out a "huh": he really didn't expect that the enthusiastic "fan" beside him would not only ride with him, but also want to chat with him.

But he still gave a judgment: "If you just ride like this, you will probably be 'caught' within the last 20 kilometers."

Most of the time, the fate of "rabbit" is to be "caught".

The reason is: the riders in the main group ride with less effort and maintain their physical strength better. They will gradually exert their strength in the second half of the race and gradually shorten the distance between them and the "rabbit".

Therefore, "Rabbit" is the most vivid appellation for the advance drivers: they are like the prey that was released in advance to be chased by a large force. The fate of the hunter.

Same as Arthur's judgment, Roy's head coach Victor's instructions came from Roy's earphones:

"Roy, today's mission was completed well. After you slowly slow down and are 'caught', just follow the large group to the finish line."

"Nick is in good form today, let him cross the line later and compete for the championship of the stage."

Roy was instantly annoyed and laughed:

Nick's sprinting skills are definitely not the best on the team.

There are better sprinters on the team than Nick.

But in order to maintain the authority of the "leader", the head coach asked everyone to give up the opportunity to Nick.

Thinking of this, Roy turned his head to look at Arthur beside him.

Arthur was also pressing the headset, frowning.

Presumably the coaching instructions he received were similar to his own.

At this moment, Arthur suddenly turned his head to glance at Roy.

The two were connected in an instant.

People who are engaged in competitive sports always have a deep-rooted desire for victory.

Now they have such a good opportunity, if they give up, they won't come again.

Roy immediately held the microphone and said loudly to the coaching staff:

"What are you talking about, I can't hear you..."

"The radio seems to be out of order.③"

Arthur kicked his pedals hard and started to accelerate.

Roy moved the microphone away and followed quickly.

At this moment, the broadcast commentator Jacques was speaking loudly into his microphone:

"Those who have been in the first echelon are two unknown young riders, No. 143 Roy and No. 176 Arthur Wilson, both of whom are in their early 20s. This Tour de France, it is they First show at a Grand Tour."

"These two seemed to suddenly have the idea of ​​competing, and when they disagreed, they both started to speed up."

"There are still 35 kilometers away from the finish line, does the main group still have a chance to catch these two young 'rabbits'?"

"There are still 20 kilometers left before the finish line. If the main group can't shorten the gap with 'Rabbit', then each team will have to sit back and watch these two young people cross the finish line first."

"There are still 5 kilometers to the finish line. There is still a distance of nearly 2 kilometers between the main group and the 'rabbit'."

"...4 kilometers. It seems that these two little 'rabbits' are beyond the reach of the main group. Both Roy and Arthur are ready to sprint."

"One of them will become the champion of the first stage of this year's Tour de France."

"Look, the young man who made his debut in the Tour de France, such youth, such a handsome face—"

"The winner among them will wear the yellow jersey, and even the loser will be able to wear the white jersey.④"

"Then who could it be?"

"Who will win the yellow jersey and who will wear the white jersey?"

The finish line has come to the end of the "Road of England".

Roy turned his head and glanced at Arthur beside him, who was also looking at him.

He has experienced such a scene countless times - he and Arthur, facing the finish line that is within reach.

Arthur is immature, the young man participating in the Grand Tour for the first time is very nervous.

Roy was very excited, and the finish line that came into view finally brought him the familiar excitement.

Every muscle in his body is full of strength, ready to explode and sprint——

In fact, Roy's heart was pounding with excitement, his palms were sweating, and his adrenaline was soaring every time he could compete with Arthur.

This time is no exception.

Roy knew Arthur all too well.

Understand every look of Arthur, every habitual movement.

As long as Arthur makes a certain habitual action, Roy will subconsciously make a judgment—the opponent is about to burst into a sprint.

Therefore, Roy completely left his judgment to his intuition.

At the moment before Arthur launched the final sprint, Roy stepped on the pedal decisively and embarked on his last sprint.

Almost at the same time, Arthur also launched.

The two were completely side by side and rushed towards the finish line at the same time.

This is their decisive battle——

The author has something to say: ① [Stage]: The schedule in this article mainly refers to the schedule of the 2020 Tour de France, with a few changes.

The stage types of the Tour de France are roughly divided into: flat land, hills, medium mountains, and mountains.The flat stages are good for sprinters, and the mountain stages are good for climbers.

②【Attack】: There is such a term. It is called attack in English. The definition is as mentioned in the text.

③[Radio]: In the Grand Tour, all contestants can use the radio to communicate with the coaching team—this makes the teamwork of the entire competition very high.Each team will temporarily adjust tactics according to various specific situations in the game, so the role of the team coach is particularly important.Tour de France officials even launched a strategy game like "Football Manager".

④[White jersey]: In addition to the yellow jersey, the Tour de France also has three colors of jerseys, namely:

Green jersey: the sprinter with the highest points has the green jersey;

Polka-dot shirt: The climber with the highest points has the polka-dot shirt;

White jersey: Among the young drivers under 26 years old, the one with the first overall score wears a white jersey.

The four jerseys have priority. For example, a young player under the age of 26 ranks first among all the players. In theory, he should wear both the yellow jersey and the white jersey. In this case, he will wear Yellow jersey, give up the white jersey to players under the age of 26 who are ranked behind him in overall score.

⑤ [Rabbit] and [Main Force Group]: These two are terms for road bicycles: Rabbit is called breakaway in English, or just called break. I don’t know why it becomes “rabbit” in the Chinese context, but really The very image; the main group is called Peloton in English (French).As mentioned in the previous chapter, using the airflow generated by the surrounding vehicles in the main group can save energy to a large extent.