Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

"I hope that in the next two climbing stages, which are more suited to you, you’ll perform at your best and continue to contribute to the team!"

After the meeting, Huang Chong, the team’s ultimate workhorse, was just about to rest when the team leader asked him to stay behind for a private word.

Huang Chong was quite grateful for this.

He had indeed been diligent in the first four stages, contributing to the team without a single complaint.

This promotion felt like a reward for all his hard work.

Although it was still clear the team didn’t think he could become a Core Commander for the third squad like Del Toro.

But at least not being a water boy anymore was a big step forward.

He replied straightforwardly:

"Sir, I’ll follow the team’s orders.

Whatever you ask of me, I’ll do it!"

...

「January 20th.」

The fifth day of the Tour of South Australia began—the stage from Christies Beach to Willunga Hill.

This stage was another circuit race, with a total length of 129.3 km.

The stage had two intermediate sprint points, at the 22 km and 80 km marks, respectively.

In addition, there was also a 3.4 km long First Category Climb with an average gradient of 7.3%, which was the Willunga Hill climb.

The race started from Christies Beach, after which the riders would circle Willunga Town twice before heading into the First Category Climb at the 103 km mark: Willunga Hill.

After reaching the summit, the riders would continue along the mountain road back to the town, and finally climb Willunga Hill one more time to the finish arch at the summit.

In other words, although the only climb in Stage 5 was Willunga Hill, the riders had to climb it twice.

This was the Queen Stage of the Tour of South Australia.

In terms of difficulty, it was definitely tougher than the Nongla Mountain climb in the Tour of Guangxi.

The first 100 km of riding along the coastal circuit would also bring strong crosswinds. Combined with the relentless summer heat, these were challenges the riders would have to overcome for the entire race.

Huang Chong’s role change was just a temporary internal decision by the team, and the news was not announced separately on the Bora Team’s official channels.

Therefore, the fans back home were somewhat unenthusiastic about Stage 5, the most exciting stage of the Tour of South Australia, before it began.

Although a Chinese rider was participating and all the fans would certainly watch it to the end, Huang Chong’s role as a water boy meant there was nothing to look forward to from a competitive standpoint.

Across the previous races, aside from the beginning of the first stage where the official broadcast gave the rookie Huang Chong a lot of screen time, he was barely visible at other times.

It felt like everyone had tuned in to the live broadcast for Huang Chong’s World Tour debut.

But four stages had passed, and it was as if they hadn’t seen him at all, leaving them with an indescribable feeling.

The fans back home weren’t even hoping for Huang Chong to contend for the championship anymore.

Instead, they just wanted the Bora Team’s coach to let him be a breakaway rider.

Even if the chances of winning were very low, being in the breakaway meant getting a ton of screen time.

「11:20 AM.」

Stage 5 officially began.

From the start, Huang Chong still rode at the back of the team today, making no moves.

Today, a total of four riders chose to break away.

They were Liam Walsh from the Australian National Team, Johan Jacobs from the Movistar Team, Samuele Battistella from the Astana Team, and Casper Pedersen from the Quick Step Team.

Right from the start, they formed a group and pulled away from the main peloton, subsequently maintaining a time gap of about two and a half minutes.

Today’s stage was still extremely hot. Even while riding along the picturesque coastline, the 40°C (104°F) temperature was enough to make the sea breeze feel hot.

Within the entire peloton, only Huang Chong was completely unaffected by the high temperature.

Moreover, he discovered that ever since taking the Anti-High Temperature Coolant, not only could his body maintain a cool state, but his skin had also developed a resistance to sunlight.

After four days of racing, many riders’ skin was peeling from sunburn, showing clear tan lines, but he had no such symptoms at all.

The race continued, and the breakaway riders forged ahead, sweeping up the points at the two intermediate sprints.

But at this point in the race, these intermediate sprint points and climbing points were already meaningless.

The breakaway riders hadn’t chosen to break away just to get these points, either.

The sprinter’s jersey had already been secured by Welsford, the winner of three stages.

As for the climbing points, Luke Burns of the Australian National Team had already accumulated 33 points in the first four stages, giving him a massive lead.

He was a full 16 climbing points ahead of the second-place rider, EF Education Cyclist Jardi Christiaan van der Lee.

He had basically already locked up that jersey of honor.

Thus, the peloton rode at a steady pace until the 103 km mark. Only after they began the ascent of Willunga Hill did they swallow up three of the breakaway riders.

Only the breakaway rider from the Quick Step Team, Casper Pedersen, was still out front, but his time gap had shrunk to less than a minute.

As they reached the foot of Willunga Hill, the number of local fans who had come to watch the stage, including fans from other cities in Australia, had clearly swelled.

Dense crowds lined both sides of the road.

The fan viewing areas were completely different from those back home.

Huang Chong still remembered that during the Tour of Guangxi, although the crowds along the road were huge, they were kept far away, beyond the non-motorized vehicle lanes, about ten-plus meters from the road itself—

But here, the fans were standing right on the road.