Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

Huang Chong considered it, but decided not to join the breakaway.

He had little interest in the two special jerseys himself.

Besides, he was well aware of his current abilities. While he might be able to drop the other breakaway riders on the final climb, he couldn’t guarantee he could maintain a solo ride to the finish after the descent, especially with 20km still to go.

’Since I’m not confident I can win the stage, a breakaway is pointless.’

The speed of a peloton full of World Tour Cyclists in full pursuit was nothing to scoff at.

Only riders at the level of Pogačar or van der Poel could pull off a solo victory over tens of kilometers. With his FTP Power still below 400W, it was virtually impossible for him to survive a 20km solo effort to the finish line.

So, Huang Chong stayed with his teammates, lying low and drafting at the back of the peloton.

However, unlike the first two days of the race, the climb up Qingxiu Mountain was brutal.

Brother Xiaoma, Niu Yikui, Su Haoyu, and Liu Jiankun all managed to hang on for three laps, but after that, they started to crack.

Of course, it wasn’t just them; with each ascent, the faces of more than half the riders from the World Tour Teams were also twisted into masks of pain.

Only the seasoned Climbers, veterans of the Grand Tours, could hold their formation on such a grueling climb, repeatedly getting out of the saddle to power their way up the mountain.

Soon, the race was on its final lap. As Huang Chong’s peloton passed under the start/finish gantry, the time gap to the breakaway riders was 39 seconds.

A distance of about 700 to 800 meters.

Meanwhile, after four laps of the circuit, a huge number of riders had been dropped from the back of the peloton.

There were no other National Team members left around Huang Chong.

The four ascents of Qingxiu Mountain had been absolutely devastating; Brother Xiaoma and the others were already about thirty seconds behind the main group.

’He knew they wouldn’t be able to catch back up on this stage.’

Because on the final climb, the peloton’s pace would increase even further to catch the breakaway.

It had to be said that while the gap between Asian riders and World Tour Cyclists might not seem so large on flat stages, the difference in class became immediately apparent on a difficult climb.

"Team Director, that Chinese rider from yesterday is still in the peloton. He didn’t get dropped like his four teammates. Looks like he’s got some ability after all."

From the Jumbo Team car, the Data Analyst watched Huang Chong’s back—emblazoned with the word "CHINA"—through the window and remarked jokingly.

The team director, however, showed no emotion and replied flatly:

"He hasn’t been dropped, true, but looking at his performance throughout the race, he hasn’t done anything particularly outstanding.

By Asian standards, he might be considered top-tier.

But on a World Tour Team, he’d just be average."

As the team director for the Jumbo Team, his standards were understandably high.

After all, his team was stacked with talent: Vingegaard, Roglič, Kuss, and Van Aert. That lineup had spent the entire season’s three Grand Tours completely dominating Pogačar’s UAE Team.

Huang Chong merely keeping pace with the peloton was hardly enough to impress him.

However, while Huang Chong’s performance might not be enough for a talent-stacked team like Jumbo, several of the lower-ranked World Tour Teams were keeping a close eye on him.

But with the race only half-over, they were all still just observing, not yet making any moves.

In their eyes, to truly test an Asian rider, you needed to see them through a full week of racing. The intensity of the first few days simply wasn’t enough.

If Huang Chong ended up blowing up in the later stages like his four teammates, they would lose all interest.

The race pressed on. After crossing the Wuxiang Bridge, the peloton immediately traversed the Nanning Bridge.

Then, with only 20.5km to the finish line, it was time for the final, 1.4km ascent of Qingxiu Mountain.

The gap between the peloton and the breakaway had shrunk to just 15 seconds.

Huang Chong stuck close to the riders in the peloton, and just before the climb started, he worked his way toward the front.

Once inside the Qingxiu Mountain scenic area, the road narrowed considerably, a stark contrast to the wide, multi-lane roads on the flat sections.

A good position was crucial for the climb.

Getting boxed in at the back of the pack would be a huge drain on efficiency.

By now, the peloton consisted mainly of the core riders from each team competing in the Tour of Guangxi.

For example, there were Kooij and Vader from the Jumbo Team; Milan from Bahrain Victorious; Onley from Team DSM; Jorgenson from the Movistar Team; Plapp and Narváez from the Ineos Grenadiers Team; and Morano from the UAE Team.

These World Tour Cyclists were undoubtedly surprised to see Huang Chong, clad in his China National Team kit, suddenly move to the front of the pack just before the climb.

’Damn, a Chinese rider survived four laps of this brutal climb and still hasn’t been dropped?’

None of them knew who Huang Chong was, which was why they were so surprised.

But Huang Chong, having watched countless races in his past life, was very familiar with some of them.

Once, these riders had been his idols—legends he could only dream of catching.

But today, they were his rivals.

’And if they’re rivals, there’s no reason to hold back.’

The 9.7% climb began.

The peloton’s pace remained incredibly high. Huang Chong, tucked into the group, found he had to push close to 370-380W just to keep from being dropped.

This was nearly his lactate threshold, but he was still far from his limit.

After another 300 meters, the gradient kicked up to a punishing 17.2%, and he immediately rose from his saddle, standing on the pedals.

At the same time, he shifted into his small chainring and a large cog on the cassette.

’But unlike some of the other riders who immediately shifted to their largest cog, I don’t feel like I’m struggling that badly yet.’

After 110km of intense racing, even the GC contenders were visibly struggling on the 17.2% gradient.

The riders who had been in the breakaway for 115km were all swallowed up and reeled in on this climb.

Then, after clearing the toughest 300-meter section, the riders leading the charge at the front of the peloton got out of their saddles and accelerated again, trying to create separation and drop riders from rival teams.

Huang Chong glued himself to Jorgenson’s wheel. He had no intention of attacking; he just wanted to make sure he wasn’t dropped in this surge.

Otherwise, trying to bridge the gap on the descent would be a huge waste of energy.

Fortunately, he managed to hang on all the way to the summit without getting dropped.

This performance made the coaching staff—from teams other than powerhouses like Jumbo or sprint-focused squads like Alpecin—take distinct notice of him.

This Chinese rider’s climbing ability was genuinely impressive.

But as the Jumbo Team director had noted, simply not getting dropped from the group wasn’t enough. For now, only the coaches from lower-ranked teams were showing any real interest.

Huang Chong, of course, had no idea what was going through the minds of the World Tour Team directors.

But even if he did, he wouldn’t have attacked.

He had only one goal for today’s stage:

Don’t lose any time.

Because, just as Coach Han had said, his stage was tomorrow: the climb to Nongla Mountain Peak.

The main reason he had pushed forward on the final lap of the Qingxiu Mountain climb to follow the lead Climbers from each team was to test himself and see if there was a significant gap in ability.

The result of his test? He discovered he wasn’t much weaker than the other Climbers at the Tour of Guangxi.

After today’s climb, he knew he still had enough left in the tank to launch an attack if he’d wanted to.

He had simply refrained from any solo attempts because he knew beforehand that the finish line was too far from the Qingxiu Mountain summit for a breakaway to succeed.

Often, to achieve the best results, a rider must first learn to be patient, to hide their true strength and bide their time. This in itself is a crucial tactic.

In the end, Huang Chong crossed the finish line safely within the main group, losing no time.

As for the winner of Stage 3, during the final sprint, Milan, who was in the overall leader’s Red Jersey, was bumped by an Arkéa rider. The collision threw him off balance, preventing him from winding up for the sprint, and in the end, Jumbo Team’s Kooij rode away from the chaos to take the stage victory.

And though the stage might not have seemed to have any major shake-ups, by the time Brother Xiaoma, Niu Yikui, and Su Haoyu crossed the line, they were already a full 1 minute and 32 seconds behind Huang Chong in the general classification.

As for Liu Jiankun, after this stage, he was a staggering 10 minutes and 23 seconds behind.

This meant that the gap between him and his teammates had quietly grown immense.

With the exception of Huang Chong, his four teammates were now out of contention for the general classification.