Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

Ralph Denke, the founder of the Bora Team, was certainly an ambitious man.

Ever since founding his road cycling team in 2009, and especially after its promotion to a World Tour Team in 2017, he had been trying to win a Grand Tour, most notably the Tour de France.

Now, sitting in the team’s conference room, he found himself staring in disbelief at the personal information and physical test data for Huang Chong, delivered by Sports Director Rolf Aldag.

He mulled it over for a long time before frowning and asking his partner,

"Rolf, you know I’ve always trusted you completely, like a true brother.

A lot of the time, we don’t even need to say anything to understand each other—

But this data on the Chinese rider... are you sure we didn’t get it wrong? Right?"

Aldag sat across from Denke, his hands resting on the desk, fingers loosely interlaced.

Hearing his boss’s question, he instinctively released his right hand and turned it palm up in a shrug, his tone surprisingly light.

"Ralph, this data is one hundred percent real. One hundred percent!

I couldn’t believe it at first either. How could such terrifying data come from a Chinese guy?

But machines aren’t like people. They might break down, but they don’t lie.

I had someone check if the machine was running properly or if it had malfunctioned—

But the results came back clean. Our equipment is all normal, in excellent working condition.

So all of Huang Chong’s data is real.

He’s genuinely a prodigy, whether we want to believe it or admit it.

I’d say as long as he avoids any major injuries in the upcoming races, with maybe a year or two of training, he’ll become another Pogačar, just like in the 2020 season."

"Dammit! What the hell is going on with road cyclists these days, Rolf?!"

Denke suddenly swore, slamming his fist on the desk with a solid, muffled THUD.

The desk was clearly made of solid wood.

However, Aldag, sitting opposite him, saw how agitated his boss was. Unable to tell if he was overjoyed or angry, he wisely chose to remain silent and wait for him to continue.

As expected, Denke went on.

"Why is it that ever since Tadej Pogačar burst onto the scene, we’ve had one cycling prodigy pop up after another these past few years?

Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel... and now even China has produced such a frightening talent.

It’s like the talent pool in road cycling is an underground spring that never runs dry. It’s overwhelming!"

Hearing this, Aldag knew his boss was excited, not angry, and replied with a smile.

"Ralph, at least this Chinese rider chose our team. That’s fantastic news, isn’t it?

Though I have no idea why he chose us.

But as long as Jumbo and UAE didn’t snatch him up, we’re the luckiest team out there."

"Yeah, I agree with you, Rolf.

You did a fantastic job with this signing.

You actually managed to find me a true prodigy from the far-off East.

Alright then. Since there are no issues with the rider and the situation is even better than we expected, let’s not hesitate. Get him to sign the contract we discussed.

And another thing—for a talent like this, we need to show some goodwill beyond the contract.

If I’m not mistaken, he just arrived in Germany from China. And since he hasn’t officially signed with us, he probably doesn’t have a place to live yet.

Have someone on your staff help him sort out his living situation.

Also, what about his language skills? Does he speak English?

German?

Or neither?

If it’s neither, then find a Chinese-English interpreter immediately. We need to ensure he can communicate effectively with the team!"

Aldag hesitated for a moment before replying,

"Ralph, I’ll have someone take care of the contract and his accommodations right away.

As for communication, however, he doesn’t seem to know any Western languages.

But when he came to the team headquarters, he had a Chinese girl with him. She speaks incredibly fluent British English. I’m not sure if she’s his partner or an interpreter he hired himself."

"Oh? Is that so?

Still, even if he has his own interpreter, that won’t work.

The girl doesn’t have a work permit from the team, so she won’t be able to travel with us to races.

That means she can’t be there to interpret for Huang Chong whenever he needs it.

Here’s what we’ll do: when he comes in to sign the contract, ask the girl if she’s looking for a job as an interpreter.

If she is, the team can sign her as well. She can be Huang Chong’s personal interpreter. That saves us the trouble of having to find one ourselves.

If we go the extra mile on these little things, it’ll increase our chances of renewing his contract in the future. Don’t you think?"

Aldag’s professional expertise was immense, but it was primarily focused on the world of cycling.

He didn’t possess the same comprehensive and agile business acumen as Ralph Denke.

He couldn’t really critique his boss’s suggestion; his job was to follow orders. He just smiled, nodded, and said,

"Ralph, I agree. That’s absolutely a brilliant decision!"

...

After his physical assessment was over, Huang Chong and Chen Junyi returned to their hotel to rest.

Now that his data report was out, the team’s senior management had to deliberate. He would have to wait for their final decision.