Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

[Congratulations, Host. As a World Tour Cyclist, you have won your first World Tour title and earned 375 (300+40+25+10) UCI points. After conversion to Basic Optimization Value, your current total Optimization Value balance is: 385]

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After Huang Chong crossed the finish line first, the system’s reward notification appeared as usual.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he converted all the Basic Optimization Value into a 7-watt power increase, bringing his FTP Power up to 418 watts.

At this power level, his Power-to-Weight Ratio had reached 6.43, which was essentially the standard required to compete in and finish the Tour de France.

Although this was still a long way from contending for the overall victory, he was certainly satisfied to have reached the level of a top-tier global cyclist so quickly.

Even though there are five to six hundred World Tour Cyclists, or even more, in reality, the number of riders who get to compete in the Tour de France each year is only 144, spread across 18 World Tour Teams (eight riders per team).

Therefore, simply joining a World Tour Team is just getting a foot in the door of professional road cycling. The toughest hurdle is developing into one of the core eight-man roster for the team.

This year, the Bora Team was led by two long-established stars, Roglič and Sindel. Huang Chong knew full well that getting a spot to ride alongside them in the Tour de France would be anything but easy.

He had to deliver as many impressive results as possible in these early, less important races to gradually earn a place in Aldag’s core lineup.

After he crossed the line, the Lotto Team’s young rider, Van Eetvelt, finished right behind him.

He was called a young rider because he was a year younger than Huang Chong.

Having been dropped by Huang Chong in the final 200 meters, Van Eetvelt was, of course, incredibly frustrated.

After all, the overall championship had been so close, almost within his grasp, only to slip through his fingers at the last moment...

But reason told him he had to accept it.

When you’re beaten by sheer ability, there’s really nothing more to say.

So after crossing the line, he remained professional and friendly, walking over to Huang Chong to give him a hug. Though still bitter inside, he put on a gracious face and congratulated him.

"Congratulations, Huang. Your performance in the final 200 meters was incredible. You absolutely deserved this victory!"

Having finished second in stages and overall classifications before, Huang Chong knew all too well the feeling of being so close to victory, yet so far.

He smiled, offered a few modest words, and returned the compliment with equal friendliness.

"You were incredible too, Eetvelt," he replied. "If my teammates hadn’t given me a pull on the earlier climb, I might not have even made it to that flatter section. You definitely would have overtaken me then!"

Van Eetvelt knew Huang Chong was just being modest, so he smiled, exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then returned to his team.

About thirty seconds after they finished, the main GC Group crossed the line together. Surprisingly, the third rider across was Bilbao from the Bahrain Victory Team, with O’Connor finishing fourth.

This came as a bit of a surprise to Huang Chong.

He hadn’t expected the overwhelming favorite, who had been so dominant in Stage 3, to fail to even get a time bonus for a top-three finish in the final stage.

As a result, not only did O’Connor fail to overtake Huang Chong in the final stage, but he also ended up losing his place to Van Eetvelt of the Lotto Team, who gained half a minute on him and moved up one spot in the standings.

The only silver lining for him was that after seven days of racing, O’Connor’s previous lead over Bilbao was large enough that he still managed to secure the third spot on the overall podium.

Ultimately, at the post-race awards ceremony for the general classification, Huang Chong unsurprisingly donned the red leader’s jersey for the overall winner, the jersey for the King of the Mountains, and the white jersey for the best young rider. He then took part in the official photo sessions for each.

The entire Bora Team staff, including his fellow riders, watched from below the stage, giving him a thunderous round of applause.

Frankly, for a rider who had just joined a World Tour Team to achieve such incredibly outstanding results in two consecutive World Tour stage races was completely unexpected for the team.

Even though Aldag had initially placed Huang Chong on the third-string roster and had him start as a lowly domestique serving his teammates, it was just as the old saying goes: true gold will always shine.

Huang Chong not only fulfilled all of his duties perfectly but also achieved results on the side that his teammates couldn’t. It was a display of undeniably superior raw talent that simply couldn’t be argued with.

"Your performance in this race was nothing short of perfect, Huang. You not only handled the pressure the team put on you, but you also secured your first overall race title so soon after joining the World Tour!

Do you realize that the results you’ve achieved are already a dream that many World Tour Cyclists will never reach in their entire careers?

I sincerely hope you achieve even greater success in your future races. It’s an honor to continue working with you, and I hope we can achieve more glory together in the competitions to come!"

The team director said with genuine emotion on his face after Huang Chong returned with the championship trophy.

As the one in charge of the team, he was under a great deal of pressure as well.

Especially since after six consecutive days of racing, the team still hadn’t secured a single stage victory.