Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

In his eyes, Huang Chong was a natural star, already possessing all the qualities needed to become a top-tier cyclist and a superstar.

He continued:

"And when it comes down to it, we’re the ones who failed to provide you with the best support in terms of team composition for this race. The responsibility for that lies with us, not you.

Strictly speaking, achieving this position in the general classification has already far exceeded the team’s expectations.

Remember, you’re currently three seconds ahead of O’Connor, the top favorite, in the general classification. Heading into the final showdown, we’re the ones with the advantage!"

Hearing the team leader’s words, Huang Chong felt a great sense of relief and replied with a smile:

"Thank you, Team Leader. I’ll do my absolute best to hold this advantage until the very end!"

On the Jais Peak climb, under the frantic pace-setting of UAE Deputy Commander Bjerg, Huang Chong had truly held nothing back and performed at his absolute best.

It was an incredibly long climb with over a thousand meters of vertical ascent, a grueling ride from the foot of the mountain all the way to its towering peak. In terms of difficulty, it was undoubtedly the biggest challenge he had faced since becoming a Professional Cyclist.

After the race, even though he knew he’d taken second place as he crossed the finish line, Huang Chong still found it hard to believe he’d managed such a performance when he looked back on it.

If he had to ride it all over again, he couldn’t guarantee he could replicate that same high level of performance, even with his FTP Power unchanged.

Of course, more important than the final result was the experience he’d gained. Successfully finishing a race controlled and pulled along by one of the world’s top teams gave him a much clearer understanding of his own energy management and fundamental strength.

Especially for the upcoming Stage 7 in a few days—another summit finish—he now felt much more confident in his ability to deliver an even better performance and secure a better result.

「Stage 3 was over.」

On the Visma Team, the rider with the best result wasn’t Bart Lemmen, but Attila Valter.

He crossed the line in the same group as the third-place finisher, Vine, with no time gap between them.

Combined with his decent time trial performance, he was now the Visma Team’s highest-ranked rider in the general classification, sitting in 11th place.

It was strange; the Visma team, if nothing else, seemed to have an endless supply of climbing specialists.

No matter the race, as long as there was a climbing stage, some unexpected rider would always seem to pop up and secure a top finish.

However, Valter was already 20 seconds behind Huang Chong in the GC after the time trial. After losing another 11 seconds in this stage, he had no chance of a comeback unless Huang Chong completely fell apart in the final stage on his own.

This left the Visma team leader feeling even more frustrated after the race.

"Sigh... To think that even with Valter giving his all on the Jais Peak climb, he still lost eleven seconds.

How does this Chinese cyclist not have any obvious weaknesses?

He not only completed the incredibly difficult 19-kilometer climb, but he even dropped Jay Vine in the final 150-meter anaerobic sprint—

If he keeps riding like this, he’ll be on the Bora Team’s main roster in no time, right?"

The Visma Team’s Data Analyst shrugged but was tactful enough not to respond.

He knew by now that whenever the team leader mentioned Huang Chong, regardless of the specific words used, the underlying insinuation was always the same:

expressing his dissatisfaction that upper management hadn’t listened to his advice—for example, his recommendation to put more on the table to sign Huang Chong.

The better Huang Chong performed, the greater the team leader’s resentment grew.

The atmosphere on the UAE Team’s side was no more relaxed than Visma’s.

Although the general classification’s Red Jersey was still with their team after Stage 3,

in a stark contrast to the end of the previous stage where McNulty had a lead of over ten seconds, now Vine’s lead over the second-place Huang Chong was a mere six seconds.

Meanwhile, McNulty, the original leader, had not only lost his entire advantage in the final 1.4 kilometers but had also been surpassed in the GC by both O’Connor and Huang Chong, dropping him to fourth place.

Worst of all, Adam Yates—the original top favorite for the overall victory, the man their entire team had pinned their hopes on, and for whom they had deployed a deluxe roster of deputies to secure his win—had crashed and been forced to abandon the race.

As the saying goes: when it rains, it pours.

As the home team competing in the UAE Tour under the watchful eyes of their sponsors, the pressure on them was already immense, which was why they had deployed such a strong roster so early in the season.

This was a very unusual arrangement in itself.

"What do you all make of this Chinese cyclist?"

After the race, the UAE Team’s sports director looked at the general classification rankings displayed on the live broadcast and asked his colleagues in a low voice.

"I think he’s very strong."

The UAE Team’s Data Analyst replied, pursing his lips:

"For a rider who just joined the World Tour to perform like this... honestly, it’s just not normal.

Of course, this also has a lot to do with the Bora Team’s roster decisions.

After all, not many teams throw a rookie straight into a World Tour race to gain experience right from the start.

According to tradition, don’t most teams have their rookies start as water boys in CLASS 1, CLASS 2, or Pro Level races and work their way up from there?"