Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

It was pure fantasy!

You could say that for any rider who wasn't in the absolute top tier—like van der Poel, Pogačar, or Evenepoel—the consequences were dire. Once he dropped them on a climb, their only hope of catching him was to chase with the main peloton on a descent or on the flats. Otherwise, the chances of him getting away for good were far too great.

Soon, spurred on by the wild cheers of wave after wave of local residents in the Italian town of Korner, Huang Chong quickly passed through and entered the final climb of the stage.

The Colleretto Castelnuovo climb was 3.8 km long, but its difficulty was concentrated entirely in the first two kilometers.

Those two kilometers had an average gradient of a steep 6.6%, with the steepest section reaching about 9.5% for a few dozen meters.

After cresting the summit, there was an immediate one-kilometer gentle descent at a -0.7% gradient, followed by a final 800-meter gentle climb at 2.7%.

Of course, Huang Chong had scouted this section of the road with his team the day before. Thanks to his system-granted Terrain Prediction ability, he couldn't memorize an entire course after riding it just once at his current level. However, by focusing entirely on the final 35 kilometers, remembering one small section of the terrain was no problem at all.

This was why he had demonstrated such extraordinary control during the crucial section that transitioned from the second climb into the descent.

As he entered the 6.6% climb, he maintained a speed of around 20 km/h. While not exceptionally fast for a climb, it was more than enough to maintain his gap over Bettiol.

Riding solo at a threshold over 400W would put even a World Tour Cyclist among the top-tier riders.

It was still a far cry from the likes of Pogačar and Vingegaard, who could sustain a Power-to-Weight Ratio of over 7.0 on a 40-minute mountain climb. But that was a 'Martian' level of performance; in the entire World Tour, only those two were capable of it.

In any case, the aging Bettiol would be incapable of averaging a 7.0 Power-to-Weight Ratio for the entire climb.

After riding the first kilometer of the Colleretto Castelnuovo climb, Huang Chong reached the 9.6% summit section. By then, he had already widened his gap to Bettiol to one minute and twenty seconds.

Despite his lead, he got out of the saddle and started mashing the pedals, putting out around 500W of anaerobic power for a solid thirty seconds. He kept it up until he was completely over the crest and onto the 0.7% gentle descent. There, he put in a few more hard pedal strokes to get his speed up before finally easing off, lowering his heart rate and power, and settling back into a seated pedaling rhythm.

"Huang, your performance today has been nothing short of incredible.

Today's race wasn't the most difficult, but your strength has clearly jumped another level compared to when you first joined the team.

And from the looks of it, you're adapting to the intensity of the World Tour Level far more quickly than any of us—myself, the team's Physical Trainers, the Data Analysts—ever expected.

You've only ridden three races in the World Tour, but it hardly seems appropriate to call you a rookie anymore.

We can go ahead and start celebrating another very important victory for both you and the team.

For the final stretch, you can ease off the power a bit and enjoy the ride. The gap to Bettiol is huge now; there's no way he can catch you.

But be careful and stay safe. Above all, don't crash!"

Aldag's tone around the team was usually serious. It might have been to maintain his authority as the man in charge, or perhaps it was just his natural disposition.

But now, having personally led the team to an easy victory, his tone had unconsciously lightened.

Previously, when the team was competing on two fronts at Paris-Nice and the Double Sea Race, their results had been less than ideal, and the pressure on him had been immense.

But he had never imagined that when he'd scouted Huang Chong in China, he had truly unearthed a top-tier prodigy with immeasurable future potential.

The kid had not only transitioned seamlessly to the World Tour stage, racking up great results and becoming the most dazzling new star of the early season, but he had also swiftly restored the team's honor and Aldag's own reputation when the main roster had underperformed in their season debut.

Huang Chong, however, wasn't like these Europeans. He wasn't one to wear his heart on his sleeve or celebrate for the cameras before the race was well and truly over.

He rode the final dozen-or-so kilometers of the descent with steady focus. Only when he had a full minute-and-a-half lead on Bettiol and was right under the finish line gantry did he finally let go of the handlebars. Spreading his arms wide, he smiled and applauded the local fans lining both sides of the road in thanks.

The moment he crossed the finish line, a system notification lit up:

[Congratulations, Host, on achieving your first career victory in a Pro Level classic race in Europe. You have successfully obtained 200 UCI points. After conversion to Basic Optimization Value, your current Optimization Value balance is: 240.]

...

He never saved his Optimization Value rewards and immediately spent them, adding another four points to his FTP Power to bring it to 422W.

After being the first to cross the finish line, he was escorted by race staff back to the main Bora Team bus.

Team owner Ralph Denke, who already knew the result, stepped off the bus to greet him, his face beaming with excitement. As soon as Huang Chong dismounted, Denke threw his arms wide and pulled him into a powerful hug, praising him with an elated voice.