Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

The Milan-Turin Race, for example, passed through numerous charming little Italian towns.

Even though it was still cold, with daytime temperatures hovering around 7°C, the scenery was picturesque. As they neared the Turin region, vast plains and a continuous range of snow-capped mountains on the towns' peripheries came into full view.

This was Huang Chong's first time in Italy, and he was completely unfamiliar with the course.

But as the team's leader, it was crucial for him to scout the terrain with his team beforehand.

The race roads in Europe weren't like the ones in the United Arab Emirates or back home, which were often three or four lanes in one direction.

Many of the race segments here used extremely narrow, single-lane country roads.

If a rider wasn't familiar with the road conditions, it was practically impossible to get a good result.

Furthermore, the three climbs on this course and the complex sections passing through the towns also required prior reconnaissance.

Professional racing was a battle against the clock. Since the team had already laid out a strategy for Huang Chong, he could afford to conserve energy while drafting on the large plains at the beginning.

However, in the final 35 kilometers or so, upon entering the climbs and descents that would decide the race's outcome, he would definitely need a thorough understanding and command of the course.

Moreover, for this race, he wasn't being led by the secondary coaching staff; Aldag was personally in command.

Even the team owner, Ralph Denke, would be on the team bus to personally oversee the race.

This clearly demonstrated the immense importance the top brass placed on this race—or rather, on him personally.

However, since it was a Pro Level event, official channels in his home country hadn't bought the broadcasting rights for Pro Races and wouldn't be airing it live. The same was true for major European channels.

Only a local Italian television station would broadcast it live.

Of course, the streamers back home were a resourceful bunch, and it wasn't hard for them to find a live feed of the race online.

So on race day, they pretty much all started their streams, allowing everyone to still watch Huang Chong's performance in the Milan-Turin Race.

After the race began, some riders predictably chose to break away from the start. There were three of them, all from Professional Teams.

They were Marco Murgano of Corratec Team, Mattéo Vercher of TotalEnergies Team, and Marcel Camprubí of Q36.5 Team.

The main peloton was controlled by the UAE Team and Bora Team, who took turns at the front.

The riders of the UAE Team were certainly very familiar with Huang Chong.

After all, he had just won the general classification on their home turf in the United Arab Emirates.

Although the root cause of their loss at their home race was an unfortunate start and a crash by their leader, they were bound to take the man who had snatched the championship from them seriously.

Right from the start of the race, the UAE Team pulled aggressively on the flat roads.

However, the advantage of being the leader was that while Huang Chong was protected by his teammates in the middle of their train, he saved a tremendous amount of energy. All he had to do was remain completely focused to avoid any crashes within the peloton.

He could basically stay in his Zone 2, conserving energy, and still keep up with the riders at the front of the peloton who were pushing the pace hard.

And with a top World Tour team controlling the pace, the breakaway group clearly wasn't going to get away.

Although the maximum time gap stretched to about two and a half minutes, the difference began to shrink as the race passed the 80-kilometer mark.

After cresting the Silva climb at kilometer 116.5, the breakaway group's lead had dwindled to only about one minute.

From then on, the time gap dropped by fifteen seconds for every twenty kilometers they advanced.

By the time the race reached Rivara Town, with only 40 kilometers remaining to the finish line, the three riders still in the breakaway were left with a gap of only about ten seconds.

Without a doubt, they were within visual range.

But the peloton didn't increase its speed. It was a complete cat-and-mouse game as they watched the breakaway riders struggle desperately.

The peloton successfully passed through Rivara Town and headed for Korner Town. It was only when they reached the second climb of the day—Praskorsano Mountain, considered the most difficult part of the entire course—that the UAE Team surged to the front. They began to furiously increase the pace on the 3.1-kilometer steep slope, instantly swallowing up the breakaway riders.

At the same time, they also managed to drop the veteran Astana sprinter, Cavendish, from the group.

Although the climb wasn't long and its difficulty wasn't considered extreme, for a veteran sprinter like Cavendish, trying to keep pace with the climbers was simply too much to ask.

"Huang, focus. Find an opportunity to move to the front of the group on this climb.

The first kilometer of the Praskorsano climb has a gradient of 6.4%; this is your chance to get into position.

Once you reach the middle kilometer, where the average gradient is 9% and the maximum hits 11.6%, you can look for an opportunity to attack.

I'll have the other teammates hold steady in the main group to control the pace and feed you time gap data."

Just as Huang Chong began the Praskorsano climb, Aldag's deep voice crackled through his radio earpiece.

He had no choice. He put in a powerful anaerobic burst, broke away from his team's train, and navigated the winding mountain road to squeeze in behind the three UAE cyclists at the very front of the pack.

The UAE cyclists, clad in their white kits, employed such an aggressive strategy in almost every race. They would proactively take control, keeping the peloton's tempo firmly in their grasp.

This clearly showed that even when competing on multiple fronts in races of different tiers, each of their lineups had riders formidable enough to match the challenge.