Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

So, without any hesitation, he decisively latched onto the slipstream of the Arkéa Team, merging into the rear of their train.

As for why he chose the Arkéa Team, it was because their cycling kits were the exact same color as the China National Team’s—bright red.

So, without a close look, riders from other teams wouldn’t immediately realize that a cunning spy was tailing the Arkéa Team’s train.

When Brother Xiaoma and the other three saw Huang Chong break away from their group and speed off with another team, they all knew they had more or less completed the task Coach Han had assigned them before the race.

The rest of the way to the finish was all uphill, and the final 5 kilometers, in particular, were a difficult, winding road up Nongla Mountain.

Just making it this far had left them nearly exhausted.

If they tried to lead out for Huang Chong any longer, they might not even be able to finish the race.

After a series of attacks and counter-attacks, the peloton was only 4.8 kilometers from the finish.

The pace was picking up, with every team clearly trying to drop as many riders who weren’t strong climbers as possible before the ascent began.

The Arkéa riders finally spotted Huang Chong lurking behind their train and quickly changed their line, trying to shake him off.

Seeing this, Huang Chong paused for a split second before unhesitatingly getting out of his saddle. He started rocking his bike and, in a flash, overtook the entire Arkéa team.

Since they wouldn’t let him draft and had even opened up a path, he gladly accepted the gift. With just a few powerful pedal strokes, he caught up to the Ineos Grenadiers Team’s lead-out train at the very front of the group.

Around a hairpin turn with 4 kilometers to go, a rider from EF Education and one from DSM launched the first attack on the climb.

Huang Chong had ridden Nongla many times before and had long since memorized every detail of the terrain and gradient data.

He knew that attacking from this point was futile unless you were a rider on the level of Pogačar or Vingegaard, so he didn’t respond at all.

And just as he’d thought, the two riders only managed a 1-kilometer breakaway before the main group he was in caught and completely swallowed them up.

Then, with 2 kilometers remaining, riders from Cofidis and Ineos began to frantically increase the pace again.

Huang Chong knew this section had an average gradient of only 5.9%. He remained calm and unhurried, staying tucked in behind the main group and letting the other riders chase them down.

Meanwhile, thanks to his memories of watching this race in his past life, he began searching for a yellow figure in the peloton as the race entered the final kilometer.

Yellow kits were the colors of the Jumbo Team.

Sure enough, with about 600 meters to go, Jumbo Team’s Vader Milan accelerated to the very front of the peloton.

Without a word, Huang Chong shot up from his saddle and started rocking his bike, aggressively squeezing past several climbers from a World Tour Team to glue himself to Vader Milan’s wheel.

At the 500-meter mark, a 180-degree U-turn appeared.

From this turn to the finish arch was the final summit climb, a stretch with a punishing average gradient of 8.7%.

Vader, leading the peloton, was the first to round the U-turn. He immediately got out of his saddle and went on a rampage, unleashing over a thousand watts of power and shooting up the steep slope like a cannonball.

However, Huang Chong, who had known this was coming, gave him no chance to escape. He decisively latched onto his slipstream and also began rocking his bike, charging up the 8.7% grade.

Seeing this, the Jumbo Team’s lead director and their data analyst shot bolt upright in their seats.

Looking as if they’d seen a ghost in broad daylight, they exclaimed in utter shock:

"What is happening? That China rider is actually attacking with Vader?!"

"Damn it, Director! The guy’s still glued to Vader’s wheel!!"

"400 meters—"

"300 meters—"

"200 meters—"

"100 meters—"

"50 meters—"

"Damn it, the China rider is still with him!!!"

"But Vader’s speed is dropping!!"

"He can’t shake the China rider, and now he’s about to be overtaken!!!"

The Jumbo Team’s lead director saw his rider’s speed plummet in the last fifty meters before the summit and knew his energy was completely spent!

But Huang Chong, who knew the entire course of the race from his past life and had intentionally eaten a Rapid Recovery Energy Bar at the foot of the mountain, watched as Vader Milan’s power output plummeted from an initial 1100W all the way down to 350W—

Having drafted the entire way, he didn’t hesitate for a second. He immediately swerved his bike and shot out from behind him.

Fighting against his own heart rate, which felt ready to explode, he still managed to generate around 530W of power, quickly dropping his opponent and crossing the finish line first with a decisive lead of seven or eight meters.

He had successfully won the Nongla Stage!!

The Jumbo Team’s driver, seeing their lead climber get sniped right before the finish, was so stunned he even brought the team car to a stop.

"My God, how—how is this possible?!"

"Vader Milan... just got sniped... by a rider from China—?!"

The lead director, sitting in the passenger seat, watched as Huang Chong crossed the line looking relatively relaxed, while the second-place finisher, Vader Milan, collapsed onto the ground, too exhausted to even get up. The director’s eyes were practically bulging out of his head in shock.

He had no interest in joining his colleagues’ discussion. Instead, he turned to the data analyst in the back seat and shouted, his voice almost a roar:

"The file!!

Get me everything you can find on that China rider! Now!

Immediately! Right now!!!"

...