Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

"I’ll have Patrick Gamper drop back to help you and share the load!"

Huang Chong was mentally prepared for the team leader’s proposal.

He knew exactly what the man was thinking. ’In this heat, a rookie like him, especially one from China, would never last. He can’t possibly keep up with the peloton in an anaerobic chase after a series of difficult climbs.’

This was a preemptive warning: don’t do anything foolish out of youthful pride.

If he accidentally blew up, his teammates up front wouldn’t get their resupply, and the team would lose its chance to contend for the stage win.

But after taking the Anti-High Temperature Coolant, the heat no longer bothered him.

For instance, after finishing the 1.6-kilometer Fox Creek climb, although his heart rate had spiked, his overall physical condition—including his body temperature—hadn’t been pushed to the point of unbearable suffering like yesterday, neither by his increased power output nor by the rising air temperature.

He remained in a state of refreshing, cool comfort, as if he were competing in this high-intensity World Tour race on a mild, 20°C spring or autumn day.

Of course, while he was confident he could complete the team’s mission with ease, he still nodded on the surface, choosing to respect the directive.

"Understood, Director. If I feel my performance start to slip, I’ll let you know immediately so a teammate can rotate with me!"

"Good. Keep it up, and do your best to help the team as much as you can!"

And so, with the team leader’s instructions over, Huang Chong began making one supply run after another.

But throughout it all, his performance never dipped, not even once.

After every climb, he would drop back to the team car to pick up supplies, looking completely at ease.

He could even crack a joke or two with the coaching staff to lighten the monotonous atmosphere of the race.

This left the entire secondary coaching staff for the Bora Team, who were in South Australia to direct the race, utterly stunned—especially the team leader.

They had all seen it: yesterday, after three consecutive supply runs, Huang Chong had been pushed to his absolute limit. His exhaustion was plain to see.

Therefore, they had been very worried that with the intensity so high on the first day, Huang Chong wouldn’t be able to hang on and would have to DNF, forcing an early withdrawal from the tour.

But as it turned out, today’s stage was even harder, requiring more supply runs, yet he seemed more and more at ease, handling it with effortless mastery.

’What kind of bizarre phenomenon was this!’

One could argue that he’d improved after gaining experience in a real race. That explanation wasn’t entirely out of the question—

but wasn’t this rate of improvement just a bit too incredible?

Normally, shouldn’t a rider’s body grow more and more fatigued as the race progresses?

Even if he were to improve, it should have become apparent in the next race, not now.

How could his performance have improved so dramatically in just one day?

After all, on today’s hilly stage, other teams needed at least two domestiques rotating and working together just to keep up.

Yet Huang Chong had single-handedly completed the first four supply runs all by himself.

As the race entered the final 20 kilometers, the peloton rode alongside a lake. The two breakaway riders, who had been out front for 100 kilometers, were finally swallowed up by the group.

Riding at the back of the peloton, Huang Chong felt no emotional stir whatsoever.

He could clearly feel the peloton’s pace accelerating, and as the final ascent of the Fox Creek climb drew near, the battle for Stage 2 was about to truly ignite.

But that had nothing to do with him.

His mission was to get over the summit of Fox Creek one last time and deliver a final round of supplies to his teammates.

And, just as he expected, once the peloton hit the Fox Creek climb, the GC Cyclists from the various teams pushed their way to the front on the 10% gradient and began to frantically accelerate and attack.

Leading the charge was none other than the Jieke Cyclist, Luke Plapp, a local rider competing on home soil. He wore the Australian National Champion’s jersey and rode a Giant Propel ADV SL.

As Plapp attacked on the long, steep slope, the riders who stuck to his wheel were Quick Step Team’s star, Julian Alaphilippe; Ineos Grenadiers Team’s Jonathan Narváez; FDJ Team’s Lawrence Pessi; and Visma Team’s Vader Milan.

Although Huang Chong was at the back of the peloton, he could still see the situation unfolding with the riders at the front.

Watching a rider he had previously beaten attack so freely, while he himself clearly had energy to spare but couldn’t act on his own, felt incredibly stifling.

But that was the reality of the situation. In the face of the team’s collective will, he had to endure this brief rookie period, just as Chen Junyi had instructed him beforehand.

Then, on the most difficult climb of the stage, Alaphilippe was the first to be dropped.

He was followed by Lawrence Pessi, then Vader Milan.

Only Narváez managed to withstand Plapp’s attack. They crested the Fox Creek climb together, formed a two-man breakaway, and began their final push toward the finish line.

As for the Bora Team, which was centered around its sprinter, Welsford was completely blown off the back during the climb, quickly losing about a minute.

Van Boppel, on the other hand, didn’t lose much time and surprisingly managed to hang on to the main group up front.

Huang Chong’s job was to protect Welsford, so he didn’t go on the attack.