Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

We hope he can mature quickly in the upcoming races and continue to deliver great performances.

So that he can soon reach the three Grand Tours that you, I, and cycling fans all over the world are waiting for!"

And while the two commentators on the Eurosport cycling channel were heaping praise on Huang Chong, a reporter from Australia’s local SBS cycling channel went straight up to him for a post-race winner’s interview.

The questions were more or less the same, asking about the foundation for his victory today, why the team suddenly changed his role, and how he felt about winning the Queen Stage.

These were all cliché questions, and Huang Chong naturally responded with the official script: affirming the help his teammates provided, praising the director’s brilliant strategy, and stating that he was in good form today.

However, even though the interview content was bland and the topics weren’t particularly novel, its broadcast on the official channel back in China still filled the domestic fans with pride and excitement!

This was a winner’s interview at a World Tour race, something completely unprecedented.

Plus, that sprint Huang Chong launched 500 meters from the finish had just blown the minds of every fan who cared about and supported him.

That was the strength of a champion. He was on a level completely untouchable by ordinary cycling enthusiasts.

Thus, after the news broke that Huang Chong had won Stage 5 of the Tour of South Australia, the comment sections of major cycling websites and various fan groups filled with riders expressing their high hopes for his future.

Some praised his incredible performance, while others, after four frustrating stages, were finally able to hold their heads high and taunt, "Haters, you got anything to say now?"

You have to understand, during the first four stages when Huang Chong was acting as a water boy, his supporters had been mercilessly mocked by the trolls and fake haters who deliberately downplayed his abilities.

Now that the clouds had finally parted, they, of course, had to reclaim their dominance online with the swagger of victors!!

...

After the stage, it was time for the winner’s award ceremony.

Huang Chong was the first to take the stage. He received a bouquet of flowers from the race organizers, a thoughtfully prepared commemorative photo frame, a bottle of excellent local wine from Fox Creek Wines, and the champion’s trophy, symbolizing the King of Willunga.

Below the podium, the local people of South Australia were naturally giving him a round of thunderous applause.

Among them were a few Chinese faces. It was unclear if they had traveled from China to Australia specifically for tourism and happened to catch the race, or if they were Chinese-Australians living there.

In any case, as he received his trophy and posed for photos with local race officials, many Chinese fans in the audience shouted up at him in incredibly loud, familiar, and heartfelt Chinese:

"YOU’RE THE MAN!!! Huang Chong, you’re the pride of all Chinese cyclists!!!"

"That’s right! Keep pushing in tomorrow’s race and crush these foreigners!!!"

"We’ll be at the Lofty Mountain finish to cheer you on!!!"

Hearing these voices, Huang Chong was naturally very moved.

To be in a foreign country and hear people cheering for you in your own familiar language was truly comforting.

After the event, before heading down the mountain, he made a point to find these few fans, signed his unused cycling water bottles, and gave them to the Chinese supporters who had come all the way to Willunga Hill for him.

...

「January 21st.」

The final stage of the Tour of South Australia, [Anly—Lofty Mountain], began.

As the concluding battle, this stage was also a mountainous circuit race.

The stage featured two intermediate sprint points, at the 56 km and 80 km marks.

In addition, there were three First Category Climbs. The first was at the 3.5 km mark, right near the start of the race, called Windy Point.

The name probably came from a famous restaurant on the mountain.

This climb was 3.5 km long with an average gradient of 5.6%.

The other two First Category Climbs were in the latter half of the stage, part of the Lofty Mountain ascent that had to be ridden three times.

The first two ascents were designated as First Category Climbs, 1.6 km long with an average gradient of 6.5%.

The steepest section was between the 800-meter and 1200-meter marks, where the gradient hit 10.6%.

But immediately after, in the last four hundred meters to the finish, the gradient suddenly dropped to 6.3%, and the final 100 meters to the finish arch were practically flat.

So, looking at the difficulty of the First Category Climbs alone, the two climbs in Stage 6 were definitely not as tough as the Willunga Hill climb in Stage 5.

However, in terms of total elevation gain, Stage 6, with its constantly rolling terrain, was over 3,000 meters, far exceeding that of Stage 5.

Before the race began, Huang Chong took a look at his general classification ranking after five stages.

He was currently 49 seconds behind the leader, Stephen Williams, placing him 29th in the overall standings.

’I have to admit, these stats are pretty pathetic.’

But this wasn’t his own fault; it was the result of Aldag deliberately sacrificing him in the initial race strategy.

If they hadn’t made him a water boy, and if he hadn’t been forced to deliberately lose time to protect Welsford in Stage 2, then after winning the Queen Stage, he would most likely be the one leading the standings right now.

’Of course, there’s no point in hypotheticals, and it’s impossible to be completely objective.’

’If Bora had treated me as the Core Commander from the start, the GC Cyclists from other teams would have definitely kept a close eye on me.’

’In that case, even if I could have won Stage 5, it wouldn’t have been as perfect as the surprise attack I launched as a mere water boy.’

What’s past is past. Huang Chong wouldn’t dwell on things that couldn’t be changed, nor would he blame Aldag or anyone else.

’I’m just a rookie, and from China at that. Even as the Tour of Guangxi champion, it’s understandable that the old European pros would want to test the waters first.’

Right now, he only cared about one thing: how to improve his general classification ranking after the final stage.

After all, the final GC ranking was directly tied to the UCI points awarded, and his system’s Basic Optimization Value was synchronized with his UCI points.

If he finished the six stages still in 29th place, he would only get 20 points. Adding the 60 points from his Stage 5 win, he’d end up with a total of only 80 points.

Ending a multi-day race with so few points—not even enough to raise his FTP Power by two—was something he definitely couldn’t accept.

Now that he was on a World Tour Team, strength was everything. He had to raise his FTP Power as much as possible before facing the truly top-tier riders.

Therefore, after careful consideration before the race, Huang Chong asked the Bora Team director:

"Director, for the final stage, I want to join the breakaway group. What do you think?"

The director, who was already in the team car, was somewhat surprised to hear this.

He didn’t answer Huang Chong’s proposal right away, instead asking a question of his own:

"Why?"

Huang Chong couldn’t tell him the real reason, of course. He just replied:

"Because our team’s main climber, Zwiehoff, is currently 37 seconds behind Williams.

If I just stay in the main group as his lieutenant for the final stage and lead him out smoothly at the end, there’s no way our rankings will change.

But if I actively go for a breakaway, even if I can’t stay away until the end, it at least introduces some variables.

For example, after Zwiehoff and the main group catch me, I can give him another lead-out.

Anyway, winning the overall title is impossible at this point, since we’re all dozens of seconds behind.

But I want to go on an all-out attack and see where my limits are."

The director’s tactical plan for the final stage was actually identical to yesterday’s.

Even though Huang Chong had won Stage 5, he couldn’t just promote him from a support rider to the team leader.

That would be overstepping his authority.

But he definitely had the authority to decide whether Huang Chong could join a breakaway.

It was just that a breakaway was very risky.

In his view, six days into the race, the riders’ bodies were surely exhausted from the continuous high temperatures.

If Huang Chong couldn’t sustain a full-stage breakaway, Zwiehoff would lose a key supporter.

Riding in the peloton to finish the last stage would indeed result in no change to the GC standings, but at least it was stable and reliable.

A failed breakaway, however, could potentially drag their current standings even lower.

But after some serious thought, the Bora Team director showed his trust in Huang Chong and replied:

"To be honest, Huang, I’m not optimistic about you choosing to break away today.

You know as well as I do, the general classification riders from the major teams are all close on time. They won’t let you get away.

But your performance over these past five days, especially in yesterday’s Queen Stage, has really impressed me. I’ve even come to admire you.

So, for both personal and logical reasons, I have to grant your request.

Since you want to create some variables, then go for it!

I’ll do my best to make sure you’re well-supplied!"