Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

In the roughly two weeks since the end of the Tour of Guangxi, Coach Han had been arranging for professionals to negotiate on Huang Chong’s behalf with the World Tour teams interested in signing him.

After reviewing the contract terms offered by all the teams, Huang Chong ultimately chose the Bora Team—the one he truly wanted to join.

As for top-tier teams like Jumbo, UAE, and Ineos, while they showed interest, the basic compensation they offered was frankly pathetic.

They offered little more than the UCI-mandated minimum salary.

If Huang Chong wanted to earn more, he would have to rely on getting good results in races to win prize money.

The absurd part, however, was that World Tour teams operated completely differently from domestic Continental teams.

Not only was the prize money taxed, but the team also took a large cut, leaving almost nothing for the rider’s pocket.

Of course, Huang Chong could accept the difficulty of making money; he wasn’t short on cash. The main issue—the absolute deal-breaker—was that these major teams made no mention in their contracts of whether he would even get to compete in the World Tour.

’If I join a World Tour team only to be sent to a bunch of Pro Level races, what’s the point?’

Coach Han wasn’t surprised by Huang Chong’s decision.

For a rookie, getting to actually race was more important than money. So he just smiled, nodded, and said:

"Alright. I’ve shown you the terms from every team, and my people did their best to negotiate the best possible deal for you. From here on out, it’s up to you to establish yourself in Europe as quickly as possible.

You’ll be on your own for the team’s training, of course. But if you run into any difficulties with daily life, the association and your provincial team will be keeping an eye on you and will continue to offer help and support.

Just let us know if you need anything."

Coach Han’s words put Huang Chong’s mind at ease.

Even though he was leaving the Hengxiang Continental Team, he still had his spot on the provincial team. Joining a World Tour team didn’t mean severing ties with the national system.

He would still be required to represent his country in major international competitions like the Olympics and the World Championships.

"Thank you, Coach Han, for running around and taking care of everything for me. Without your help, I never would have been able to finalize joining a World Tour team so quickly.

Don’t worry. Once I get to Europe, I’ll keep training hard to improve my performance and get good results as quickly as I can."

"No need to thank me. You’re a rare talent for our country. Helping you get to Europe to gain experience is just part of my job."

Coach Han smiled and waved dismissively, his admiration for Huang Chong written all over his face. He continued,

"Alright, get ready to head to Germany as soon as you can. Get your visa sorted out. I’ll let Bora know you’ll be joining them so they can get the contract ready.

Once you arrive at their headquarters, I’ll arrange for our staff in Germany to go with you for the contract signing."

...

After finishing his discussion with Huang Chong about joining the team, Coach Han returned to the Capital.

Meanwhile, Huang Chong and Chen Junyi returned to the Shanghai Headquarters with the rest of the team. He still had to complete his departure procedures, which included attending the team’s annual meeting.

As they parted ways, Coach Li clapped Huang Chong on the shoulder. He wasn’t overly sentimental, just offering a smile as he said:

"Once you’re in Europe, you have to stick with it. The races are intense over there, and even the daily training is a lot tougher.

I hope you keep improving, win a World Tour title as soon as you can, and blaze a trail for Chinese cycling on European soil.

Also, our team has training bases and offices in Europe. I’ve already given you the locations. If you run into any trouble or need anything, you can always ask our European staff for help.

I’ve already given them a heads-up. They’ll be ready to help you whenever you need it."

Huang Chong was deeply moved by his words.

Both Coach Han and Coach Li genuinely wanted him to keep improving and reach greater heights in the sport of road cycling.

They were doing everything in their power to help him sort out the challenges of living in a foreign country ahead of time, allowing him to focus on his cycling career with peace of mind.

Huang Chong knew that Coach Li had once won a road cycling race in Europe—a race in Germany, no less: the Westphalia Grand Prix.

So his words carried a lot of weight.

Now, he was about to carry on the torch, to continue the fight on that same soil. It felt like a legacy being passed down.

Of course, Huang Chong was quite confident in his own abilities.

He wasn’t the type of rider who got his spot by bringing in a sponsor, whose raw talent was still a step below the World Tour Level and needed time to get up to speed.

He was a super-rookie who had already reached World Tour Level and beaten a whole slew of World Tour cyclists.

If the team gave him a chance, he could start competing immediately.

He didn’t dare to assume he could get great results immediately in the European World Tour. After all, every race there was star-studded with elite riders and couldn’t be compared to the Tour of Guangxi.

But he was confident he could at least finish the races without issue.

Finally, Huang Chong smiled, nodded, and said with sincere gratitude:

"Thank you, Coach Li. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely train hard and try to win my first European title as soon as possible."

...

After saying goodbye to Coach Li, Chen Junyi retrieved her car from the team facilities, and the two of them headed back toward Hangcheng.

Earlier in the year, the two of them had traveled together from Hangcheng to the Shanghai Team Headquarters. Now, at the year’s end, they were returning to Hangcheng together once more.

But driving down that same road, they were in completely different spirits.

Chen Junyi, at least, was in high spirits.

After a year of grueling competition, Huang Chong had actually reached the level required to be signed by a World Tour team, and he was about to leave for Europe.

Huang Chong, however, was rather quiet for the whole drive, not saying a word, looking as if he had a lot on his mind.

Seeing him staring into space, Chen Junyi had a good idea what he was thinking and decided to ask him deliberately:

"What’s wrong?

You’re about to join the Bora Team, just waiting on the contract. Shouldn’t you be happier?

Plus, you had such an outstanding season and have no training obligations for now. Why the long face?"

Hearing her deliberate teasing, Huang Chong just shook his head with a wry smile and couldn’t help but sigh.

"Stop making fun of me.

Of course I’m happy I can sign with Bora.

But the problem is, the team specifically told me to wrap things up in China quickly and fly over to complete the physical and sign the contract.

If everything goes well, I’ll basically have to join their winter training camp.

But I don’t know the language. Going to Europe all by myself... I’m honestly a little scared.

I keep reading online that big European cities, especially the capitals of developed countries, are crawling with thieves, muggers, and beggars.

I have no experience dealing with that kind of thing. It’s really worrying me!"

Chen Junyi couldn’t help but laugh when she heard him say that.

She truly never expected that a guy who wasn’t afraid of training at altitudes over four thousand meters would be afraid of going abroad.

Still, the language barrier was a genuine problem. You can’t just go around communicating with a translation app on your phone all the time.

Chen Junyi smiled and tried to reassure him.

"That’s nothing to worry about. Since the team is signing you, they’ll surely arrange for a translator or something. Then you can just learn the language while you train and race.

You may not have been great at learning foreign languages in China, but you’ll pick it up quickly once you’re immersed in the environment."

’Huang Chong was highly skeptical of his language-learning abilities. He couldn’t even manage English, let alone German, Spanish, French, Italian, or Dutch.’

After thinking for a moment, he decided to stop beating around the bush and ask Chen Junyi directly:

"Does what we talked about before still stand?

Aren’t you going back to the United Kingdom for grad school in the second half of next year?

I want to hire you to continue as my personal assistant and come to Europe with me six months early.

Don’t worry, I’ll cover all of your living expenses, salary, everything. What do you say?"

However, upon hearing this, Chen Junyi shot him a sidelong glance. Then, her expression went blank and she replied stiffly:

"Not a chance."