Less than 500 meters after Jensen broke away, another cyclist, Valentin Madouas from the FDJ team, launched a solo attack while wearing the French national champion's jersey.
Huang Chong, tucked into the middle of the Bora train, naturally chose to ignore these attacks.
After all, with their level of strength and forty kilometers of long climbs ahead, there was no way they could stay away.
Ironically, after breaking away, Jensen managed to catch the three-man breakaway group ahead with 36 km to go, successfully linking up with them—
But the chase for the French national champion, Madouas, became a little awkward.
He couldn't catch the breakaway group at all; in fact, the time gap only grew wider.
Finally, after a grueling 10 km solo effort, he was mercilessly caught and swallowed by the peloton with about 30 km remaining to the finish line.
However, the price for that failed 10 km solo ride was extremely high.
