Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

For example, if Huang Chong’s current FTP is 400W, and his normalized power for a ride is 350W, then the intensity factor (IF) would be 350 ÷ 400 = 0.875.

A value less than 1 means he wasn’t going all-out or riding at race intensity. It was just an easy aerobic ride.

The first thing Aldag had Huang Chong do was an FTP Power test, which involved riding on a trainer in constant mode, set to a 0% gradient to simulate a perfectly flat road.

Huang Chong was rather exasperated by these tests, but there was nothing he could do. ’He couldn’t exactly print out the data from his system panel to show Aldag, after all.’

In the end, he completed the first test with a freakishly stable cadence and power output, as well as a steady heart rate in the threshold zone.

His FTP Power was 403W, exactly as shown on his system’s display.

When Aldag received this data, he merely gave a slight nod.

Compared to the top cyclists on a World Tour Team, Huang Chong wasn’t particularly impressive yet.

After all, with that FTP Power, his Power-to-Weight Ratio was only 6.2 W/kg.

Among World Tour Cyclists, this wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t yet at the level of a top domestique or team leader.

Simply put, he still had work to do.

After the FTP test, the team had him rest for 30 minutes. Then, he had to perform six sets of 5-second, all-out sprints to test his maximum Critical Power (CP)—his explosive power.

The results for all six attempts were very close. During his 5-second Sprinting Burst, Huang Chong’s maximum power output was consistently above 1300W, and his Power-to-Weight Ratio exceeded 20 W/kg.

For a rider of his weight, this ability wasn’t just strong—it was absolutely top-tier.

An incredulous expression appeared on Aldag’s face.

A Climber with such a powerful burst would have an immense advantage in a sprint to a summit finish.

"Continue. Next, adjust the trainer’s gradient parameter. Have him ride all-out for five minutes. I want to see what his NP can reach."

This particular test was grueling for Huang Chong.

Testing NP relies primarily on anaerobic capacity with a small aerobic contribution, and it required him to maintain a continuous output for five minutes on an 8% gradient simulated by the trainer.

In the end, he gave it everything he had, pushing 442W and reaching his absolute limit.

These numbers were anything but bad. Maintaining that normalized power on an 8% gradient for five minutes, for an average Power-to-Weight Ratio of 6.8 W/kg, was already at the level of a top GC Cyclist.

"Not bad. That’s it for the power and heart rate tests. After he has lunch, we’ll test his maximal oxygen uptake."

Aldag soon had Huang Chong’s power and heart rate performance data:

One-hour FTP: 403W

5-second CP: 1308W

5-minute NP: 442W

During the CP power test, his maximum heart rate reached 214.

And during the FTP Power test, his heart rate was stable at 192.

Both of these figures undoubtedly showed that Huang Chong had an incredibly strong heart.

The fact that he could still be in his Zone 2 aerobic range with a heart rate of around 150 bpm was outrageous.

Even though his base power still had plenty of room for improvement, the team could already see that his potential for growth was limitless.

To put it more bluntly, he had all the makings of a top GC Cyclist.

In the afternoon, after resting and recovering some of his energy, Huang Chong put on a respiratory mask to complete the final test: maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max).

It’s well known that the higher a person’s VO2max, the stronger their endurance-based athletic performance.

VO2max reflects a cyclist’s physical state during extremely intense exercise with high metabolic stress.

The advantages it provides in cycling are primarily seen in two areas:

1. High power output

2. Strong interval capacity

For example, during Huang Chong’s five-minute, high-intensity NP test that morning, both his anaerobic and aerobic systems had to be highly engaged simultaneously.

Oxygen is paramount here. It must not only supply energy for the aerobic system but also clear out the anaerobic metabolic byproducts from the body.

Therefore, a Professional Cyclist with a higher VO2max, like Vingegaard, has a stronger ability to utilize oxygen during high-intensity exercise.

This results in a higher ATP conversion rate, allowing them to output more power than other cyclists on incredibly difficult anaerobic climbs.

At the same time, VO2max doesn’t just signify the ability for high power output; it’s equally important for recovery between repeated efforts.

When a cyclist launches an out-of-the-saddle attack—like Huang Chong did during Stage 7 of the Tour of Qinghai Lake and on the Zitong Ridge climb at the Asian Games—they don’t just sprint once until complete exhaustion (and blow up).

Instead, during the constant attacks and surges—and indeed, over the course of a race lasting several hours—they repeatedly hit their maximum power output, alternating between sprinting and recovering.

Every time a cyclist puts out a maximal effort, it’s like burning a match.

The larger their anaerobic capacity, the more "matches" they have to burn on these maximal efforts.

Therefore, the higher the VO2max, the faster a cyclist can recover as their anaerobic reserves are depleted.

It was precisely this recovery ability, optimized to a freakish degree by his system, that allowed Huang Chong to blow away the Bardiani Team’s Black team leader, Mulubrhan Henok, in a head-to-head battle on the decisive climb of Stage 7 at the Tour of Qinghai Lake.

This is why cyclists with a high VO2max typically have an exceptional capacity for repeated efforts, allowing them to use their anaerobic sprint ability again and again during a race.

Take Pogačar in the 2025 season, for example: during Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders, he could launch round after round of anaerobic attacks on the climbs without ever completely blowing up or collapsing. So, even though his VO2max value isn’t public, it’s guaranteed to be exceptionally high.