Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

This race course featured a total of three considerably difficult mountain climbs, all located in the latter half and within forty kilometers of the finish line. Since the Bora Team was primarily composed of climbers, their participation was a given.

Additionally, the team was already scheduled to participate in the Milan-San Remo, and this race was being held in Milan three days prior, so it was conveniently on their way.

As Aldag was drawing up the roster for this race, he recalled his boss's personal request. After a long period of contemplation, he finally put pen to paper and wrote down the first name: Huang Chong.

He also added a mark in front of his name, designating him as the number one rider.

Without a doubt, this signified that he was the team leader.

After settling on the team leader, he went on to write down the names of the other six support riders:

Emil Herzog

Frederik Wandahl

Florian Lipowitz

Bob Jungels

Anton Palzer

Alexander Hajek

...

Within the Bora Team, this lineup certainly couldn't be considered very strong.

In fact, aside from Jungels and Palzer, who were veterans, the rest were all young guns under twenty-three years old.

This was clearly a lineup Aldag had assembled for training purposes.

So when Huang Chong and the other six riders were called together and told they would be participating in the Milan-Turin Race, they all exchanged confused glances.

Of course, no one dared to defy the boss's arrangements. The most they could do was grumble quietly to themselves.

Once everyone had arrived, Aldag wasted no time with idle chatter and got straight to laying out the strategy.

"I've put you all on the roster for the Milan-Turin Classic. Our objective is, without a doubt, to go for the win.

As for why I chose Huang Chong as the team leader for this race, I'm sure you all know about his excellent performances in the Tour of Australia and the UAE Tour.

He's not only a powerful climber in the high mountains, but he also has what it takes to break away and seize victory.

Topographically, this course is a perfect fit for him.

So, I need all of you to give him your full support as we fight for the win in this classic!"

After finishing his opening remarks, Aldag picked up a tablet, opened the elevation profile for the course, and continued:

"This course is 177 kilometers long in total, and it features three climbs.

The first climb is at the 111-kilometer mark. After passing through the town of Scarmagno, you'll hit the Silva climb, which is 4.6 kilometers long with an average gradient of 3.9 percent.

The second is at the 145-kilometer mark. After the town of Rivara, you have the Praskorsano climb, a 3.1-kilometer ascent with an average gradient of 6.9 percent.

And the last one is at the 161-kilometer mark. After passing through Korner Town, there's one more: the Colleretto Castelnuovo climb, 3.8 kilometers long with an average gradient of 3.9 percent.

When you hit the first climb, I don't want anyone making any moves.

It's too far from the finish. Everyone just stay steady in the peloton, protect your leader, and focus on conserving energy.

However, when you get to the second climb—Praskorsano—that's a different story. The steepest section of that road hits a gradient of 11.6 percent. It's a perfect opportunity to attack.

Even if we don't make a move, other teams are sure to have riders who will launch an attack on that climb."

After Aldag finished discussing the strategy with everyone, he pulled Huang Chong aside. Huang Chong was just about to head home to pack his bags for the trip to Milan, but Aldag had some specific instructions for him:

"Huang, you've seen the course profile, right? Then you should know that if you want to win this race, there's no mountaintop finish waiting for you.

You have to launch an early solo attack on the second climb. Try to drop all your rivals on the most difficult part of that ascent.

Finally, you'll have to rely on your own high power output to hold them off all the way to the finish.

If you just hang back with the peloton until the end, you'll be forced into a sprint against other teams' riders on a long, gentle climb with a gradient of less than two percent. You'll lose all your advantages.

Also, you have to remember one thing: one-day races are completely different from stage races.

In a one-day race, you can go all out and attack without holding anything back, just like you did on the last stage of the Tour of Australia.

But you have to pace yourself carefully. Don't get too excited and burn yourself out at the beginning.

Also, on the start list for this race, you need to pay close attention to the riders from Astana Team and UAE Team!"

Hearing Aldag's individual instructions, Huang Chong didn't have much to say. He just nodded and said:

"Alright, Director. I'll study all my rivals carefully."

When he got home, Chen Junyi had already prepared a list of the teams and riders for the race. She began to go over it with him:

"There are a total of 18 teams competing in this race, and each team can field up to seven riders!

But unlike a World Tour event, in a Pro Level race like this one, World Tour teams can't make up more than fifty percent of the total participants.

So in this race, there are only nine World Tour teams. They are:

EF Education, UAE Team, Bora, Movistar Team, Arkéa, Cofidis, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, Astana, and Tissot Team.

The other nine teams are all Professional Teams. They are:

Q36.5, Bardiani, Israel-Premier Tech, BINGOAL WB, UNO-X, Porti-Kometa (Team Polti Kometa), TotalEnergies, Team Corratec - Vini Fantini, and Tudor Team."

Huang Chong wasn't completely familiar with these Professional Teams, but he wasn't a complete stranger to them either.

For example, he had gone head-to-head with the Italian Bardiani Team last year at the Tour of Qinghai Lake.