Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

Huang Chong knew the 35 road cycling World Tour races like the back of his hand.

In his past life, he had watched races for three years without missing a single one. He could even recite the names of all the events by heart.

Of course, watching a live broadcast online and actually riding on those courses were two completely different things.

On reflection, he had been training with the Bora Team for two months, a period during which he’d ridden through four or five countries, tackling European plateaus, cobblestone roads, high-mountain stages, and country lanes. Yet his current situation still felt surreal.

The new season was about to begin.

He was about to go head-to-head with the star cyclists he had once idolized, competing on the very same stage.

The dream that had once been so far out of reach was now at his feet.

He wasn’t just competing in the highest level of professional road cycling in the world; he was also one of the top 500 cyclists globally.

However, as a rookie, he was well aware that even though the team had promised in his contract that he would race in ten World Tour events, getting into the main roster for the most important races—the three Grand Tours and the five Monuments—wouldn’t be so easy.

This was reflected in his training over the past two months. Aside from adapting to the new riding posture his coach had set for him, he spent most of his time practicing how to fetch water from the team car, deliver it to teammates, and hold his position in the corners.

So, for now, he and Lipowitz were in the same boat—two rookies on the team who still needed to gain more experience.

Therefore, the ten World Tour races he’d been promised were bound to be the less important ones on the calendar.

For instance, take the Tour of Australia and the Ocean Road Race, the earliest events in the World Tour. He didn’t even need to wonder whether these two races suited a GC-type rider like him; the team would be sending him regardless.

The nature of these events was similar to the final race of the season, the Tour of Guangxi.

Geographically, they were far from Europe, and the UCI points on offer weren’t high.

They were also scheduled long before the all-important Tour de France.

Under these circumstances, all the teams had a tacit agreement. They would only send rookies who had just joined the World Tour, or veterans who had been with the team for years and had already plateaued in performance with no room for improvement.

After all, the flight was over ten hours long, and the cyclists would be worn out just from the travel.

Plus, with the season starting so early, the main riders for the major World Tour Teams needed to save themselves for the Tour de France. They certainly wouldn’t exhaust themselves so early in the new season.

Furthermore, during the three Grand Tours, while all the top cyclists were showcasing their talents under a global spotlight, a rookie like Huang Chong would surely be sent by the team to compete in some local European Pro Level races during that long lull.

Scoring points would be ideal, but even if he didn’t, it would keep him from going too long without racing and missing out on opportunities to gain experience.

In short, with the exception of a few rare prodigies, this was the typical first-season experience for every young cyclist joining the World Tour.

Fortunately, Huang Chong was a seasoned cycling fan and was already mentally prepared for the unwritten rules of the World Tour Teams.

’Anyway, while it’s not impossible for me to race in the Tour de France in my first season, it will definitely be extremely difficult.’

At the very least, he had to first diligently complete his duties in these seemingly less important races without any complaint or carelessness.

After the two World Tour races in Oceania, the next event would be one of two held in Asia: the UAE Tour.

This race was also far from Europe and used by teams to test their riders, so Huang Chong guessed he would be sent to this one as well.

Even though his contract terms were excellent, he knew that even with these foreigners, team politics were just as strong and deeply ingrained.

This was especially true for Bora. As the only German Team, it essentially served as a training ground for the German National Team, much like Astana did for its country.

Of the 29 riders on this year’s main roster, German riders accounted for a third of them—10 in total.

That alone said it all.

And just as Huang Chong had thought, as the Tour of Australia drew closer and Sports Director Aldag put together the rider lineup, his name was right there on the list.

He even received more "special attention" from Aldag than the other riders.

The very first name Aldag wrote on the paper was Huang Chong.

After his name was confirmed, Aldag went on to write down the names of the other six riders who would be going with him to Australia to serve as the ultimate workhorses:

Australian rider: Sam Welsford

Dutch rider: Danny van Poppel

German rider: Ben Zwiehoff

Spanish rider: Roger Adrià

Austrian rider: Patrick Gamper

And Irish rider: Ryan Mullen

...

When Huang Chong saw the list, he was completely unfazed.

In this lineup, he was the youngest at 23 (his birthday hadn’t passed yet).

The next youngest after him was the 26-year-old Roger Adrià.

The rest were all older riders, aged 28, 29, and 30.

Without a doubt, Aldag was fielding this lineup and taking him to the Tour of Australia, thousands of miles away, purely as a training exercise.

This was all but confirmed when Huang Chong saw the elevation profiles for all the Tour of Australia stages, which Chen Junyi had sent over.