Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

March 27th, 12:30 PM.

Crossing Flanders had officially begun.

The race course started in the western Belgian city of Roeselare. After 32 kilometers on flat roads, the riders would pass near the finish line in Waregem City.

As the crow flies, the start and finish lines were very close.

However, on the first lap, the riders wouldn’t pass through the finishing stretch. Instead, they would detour onto an adjacent road.

From there, they had to head east to complete a large loop, tackling 12 climbs and 9 cobbled sections along the way, before circling back west toward Waregem City.

The 9 cobbled sections were practically 9 additional climbs. The immense friction from the cobblestones not only made pedaling incredibly difficult and significantly increased tire resistance, but the irregular bouncing and jarring vibrations also numbed a rider’s entire body.

As this was a top-tier one-day Classic, a breakaway of eight riders formed right from the start.

They were: Abrahamsen of the Uno-X Team, De Bondt of the Decathlon Team, Mathias Norsgaard of the Movistar Team, Thomas Gachignard of the TotalEnergies Team, Dries De Pooter of the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux Team, Pascal Eenkhoorn of the Lotto Team, Casper Pedersen of the Quick Step Team, and Amund Jansen of the Jieke Team.

Huang Chong wasn’t very familiar with these eight breakaway riders, only recognizing Abrahamsen, De Bondt, and Pedersen of the Quick Step Team.

Among them, Abrahamsen and De Bondt were both riders who posed a threat to the general classification.

But as a team domestique, since he hadn’t been ordered by Aldag to join the breakaway, he was to stay in the peloton and ride steadily.

For this 188.6-kilometer Classic, the first 50 kilometers were naturally the easiest, consisting of entirely flat roads with almost no changes in elevation.

During this period, the three teams with top contenders—Trek with Milan, Ineos with Tarling, and Vismar with Van Aert—unquestionably took the initiative, taking turns to control the pace of the peloton.

Because the breakaway group included sprinters like Abrahamsen and De Bondt, and because the final tens of kilometers were mostly flat, cobbled roads, the peloton managed the time gap very well. They kept it at around 1 minute and 30 seconds, not allowing the breakaway to extend its lead any further.

Huang Chong rode steadily within the peloton, not even needing to take a turn at the front for his teammates.

Just as Chen Junyi had said before the race, the most difficult part of this course was concentrated in the repeated climbs of the middle section.

Since he could conserve energy now, he was determined to save as much as possible.

To be honest, he didn’t have much faith in his teammates.

Although Van Boppel and Meus had been designated as team leaders by Aldag and had already secured third place overall in the previous two one-day races, respectively, he knew very well that neither of them had much hope of actually contending for the championship.

The race continued, and as the peloton reached the 52.5-kilometer mark, the first climb of the entire course arrived: the Hellestraat.

This climb was not very difficult, with a total elevation gain of 77 meters over 1.5 kilometers and an average gradient of only 3.5%.

After calmly and safely navigating it with the peloton, Huang Chong soon encountered the first cobbled section: Varentstraat.

This was a characteristic feature of Belgian roads. Huang Chong didn’t know their specific purpose, but for motorized vehicles, these sections were considered quite smooth.

For road cycling, however, it was pure torture.

Road bikes have no suspension, and even the slightest bounce is incredibly noticeable. So, the moment Huang Chong rode onto the cobbled surface, he immediately relaxed his grip on the shifters, holding them loosely.

If he gripped the handlebars too tightly, the intense vibrations would instantly numb both of his arms.

"Huang, are you feeling okay? On the cobbles, be very careful to maintain distance from the other riders. At the same time, don’t loosen your grip on the handlebars too much. Otherwise, if you make physical contact with another rider, it could easily cause a massive crash!"

From the team car following just behind the peloton, Aldag, worried that Huang Chong might not be used to these road conditions, didn’t forget to offer a thoughtful reminder.

Huang Chong replied directly:

"I’ve ridden them many times during training. Don’t worry, Director, I can handle it!"

"Good. For now, just stay steady in the main group. The race is about to enter its middle section, and the teams aiming for the win will definitely start to increase the pace and stretch things out. You and your teammates maintain your formation, and whatever you do, don’t get dropped!"

Not long after Aldag finished speaking, as the peloton reached the second climb around the 70-kilometer mark, the Volkegemberg, the once-cohesive peloton finally began to fracture.

Although this climb was only 1 kilometer long, its average gradient reached 4.5%. The steepest part, between the 200 and 400-meter marks, was a steep incline of 8.6%.

For a Climber, a short distance like this could naturally be conquered with just a few hard pedal strokes.

But because the Belgian roads were both narrow and steep, many sprinters couldn’t use their momentum from a long sprint on the flats to carry them up the incline. As a result, when they had to grind their way up this steep section bit by bit, the pressure mounted instantly.

A large number of sprinters started to get dropped from the peloton, including some riders from Bora who began to fall to the back of the group.