Chapter 237 - 153: Their Leader Is Your Target
"I’ve compiled the elevation profiles for the seven stages of the UAE Tour, Huang Chong. This race is perfect for you to contend for the general classification."
After the team announced its race roster, Huang Chong returned to the apartment he shared with Chen Junyi for dinner. She handed him a tablet displaying the race’s elevation profiles and continued speaking.
"This year’s race only has two high-mountain climbing stages. Looking at the terrain, they’re almost identical to Stage 5 of the Tour of Australia.
The first part of the stages are all big, flat roads—pancake flat—with only a high-mountain climb at the very end.
However, it’s worth noting that the UAE Tour is very similar to the week-long races in Europe. It includes an ITT, which is scheduled for the second stage.
So if you want a good result, you can’t lose too much time in the ITT."
Huang Chong took the tablet and gave the elevation profiles for the seven stages a quick glance. He realized that winning the overall title at the UAE Tour would require a rider with exceptionally well-rounded, comprehensive abilities.
It was a classic stage race, perfectly suited for a GC Cyclist to shine.
First, you couldn’t get dropped on the flat sections. Your time-trialing ability couldn’t be poor. And finally, you had to conquer terrifying high-mountain climbs.
Although the elevation profiles showed that the two summit finishes in the United Arab Emirates looked a lot like Willunga Hill from the Tour of Australia, in terms of actual difficulty, these two Middle Eastern mountains completely dwarfed the Queen Stages of both the Tour of Australia and the Tour of Guangxi.
Take Jais Peak on Stage 3, for example. The mountain’s average gradient was a seemingly gentle 5.6%, but it stretched for a terrifying 19 kilometers.
And on the final day of racing, Jeb Hafeet Mountain was just as difficult, with an average gradient of a steep 6.7% over 10.9 kilometers.
Overall, climbs of this caliber at the UAE Tour were very similar to those in a Grand Tour. For an average rider, just being able to hang with the lead group to the summit was already an incredible feat.
To actually launch an attack at the summit finish would be a pure test of one’s anaerobic recovery ability.
Fortunately, Pogačar, the Core Commander for the home UAE Team, wasn’t participating in this year’s UAE Tour. Otherwise, Huang Chong knew that if he, at his current level, had to face Pogačar head-on, he would be utterly annihilated on those two terrifying mountain climbs.
After reviewing the elevation profiles for all seven stages, he turned his attention to the list of participating teams and their lead riders.
This year’s UAE Tour still featured 20 teams, with each allowed to bring seven riders.
Unlike the Tour of Australia, however, two World Tour Teams were not participating: Arkéa and the FDJ Team.
Also, as the host nation, the United Arab Emirates did not field a National Team.
This opened up four wildcard slots for high-ranking UCI Professional Teams:
Lotto, Israel-Premier Tech, Tudor, and the Corratec - Vini Fantini Team.
Of course, after his experience at the Tour of Australia, Huang Chong wouldn’t underestimate these Professional Teams that had just been relegated from the World Tour.
Many of the riders on those teams were of World Tour Level.
For example, the Lotto Team’s young prodigy from Belgium: Lennert Van Eetvelt. That guy had even won the Tour of Guangxi general classification, just like Huang Chong.
Besides Van Eetvelt, the rider to watch most closely for the general classification was, without a doubt, the climbing specialist from the Decathlon-AG2R Team: Ben O’Connor.
The most memorable story about this rider was from the Giro d’Italia. He’d stubbornly tried to follow an attack from Pogačar, which ultimately led to him blowing up completely. In a post-race interview, he had said:
"I blew up because I tried to follow Pogačar. I’m the biggest idiot at the Giro d’Italia!"
Of course, memorable moments aside, according to the history of his previous life, this guy’s form this year was unreal. It was a complete breakout season, and he’d even rank among the top ten riders of the year.
From what Huang Chong remembered, he even knew this guy wouldn’t just take second place in the general classification at this year’s Vuelta a España, but would also win a silver medal at the World Championships!
’In any case, facing him in his first race of the season, I still have a fighting chance.’
’But later in the season, if I’m still at my current level, trying to compete for a title against a Ben O’Connor in peak form will be completely unrealistic.’
Besides those two, the list of star riders at the UAE Tour that Huang Chong recognized was, much like at the Tour of Australia, quite long.
The UAE Team in particular had a stacked roster. He didn’t know if it was because they were the home team or because their young rider Del Toro had unfortunately failed to secure the GC win at the Tour of Australia, but they had sent a ridiculously strong lineup of deputies: Mikkel Bjerg, Jay Vine, Brandon McNulty, Adam Yates, and others.
Any fan familiar with the UAE Team would know that these riders were all Core Deputy Commanders who supported Pogačar’s bid for the title at the Tour de France.
Especially Adam Yates.
And aside from the UAE riders, others like Bart Lemmen from Vismar, Ilan Van Wilder and Tim Merlier from the Quick Step Team, and Pello Bilbao from the Bahrain Victory Team were all star riders Huang Chong was very familiar with from his past life.
So all in all, while the UAE Tour offered the same number of GC points as the Tour of Guangxi—a paltry 300, placing it in the lowest tier of the World Tour—the rider lineup was still star-studded and packed with big names.
And for him to do as Chen Junyi suggested and win the general classification... the difficulty was undoubtedly immense.
"Ugh, this UAE bunch is really going all out. Even if it’s their home race, there’s no need to send such a stacked lineup—"
Huang Chong sighed deeply as he sipped the after-dinner dessert Chen Junyi had specially prepared for him—a mix of yogurt and fresh fruit.
To be honest, in his past life, his friend Dewey had been a die-hard Pogačar fan, so he had also paid close attention to the UAE Team. As a result, he was familiar with most of the riders on their roster.
But being familiar with them was one thing; he had never imagined he’d be meeting all these riders he once looked up to, all at once, so early in his career.
After all, a top-tier deputy commander like Adam Yates could easily be the Core Commander on any other World Tour Team.
Seeing Huang Chong’s furrowed brow and hearing him sigh, Chen Junyi asked:
"What’s wrong? You look like you’ve lost all your confidence just by seeing the UAE Team’s roster. Don’t you think you can beat them?"
Hearing this, Huang Chong thought for a moment, then quickly adjusted his mindset. He shook his head and said:
"It’s not that. It’s just... these guys were once so far removed from me, each one like a brilliant, untouchable star. And now, I have to compete directly against them for the title in a top-tier race. It just feels a bit surreal, you know?"
Hearing him say that, Chen Junyi felt a wave of relief. She quickly smiled and offered some encouragement:
"I believe you can do it.
To climb the highest mountain, you have to conquer the most difficult roads.
Their leader is your real target, isn’t he?
So you have to give it your all, Huang Chong.
You have to give everything you have in every race, every single stage. That’s the only way to get into the team’s core rotation as quickly as possible.
Only when you’re part of the core lineup can you face your true rivals on the race course!"