Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

"Right now, in the lead group, you and Zwiehoff are the only ones left from our team. You have to make sure at least one of you crosses the finish line with the front group."

Huang Chong felt a pang of regret upon hearing that Adam Yates had withdrawn from the race.

His climbing ability was truly exceptional.

If he hadn’t crashed, he would have been the biggest favorite to win this year’s race.

And by going head-to-head with UAE’s strongest team of domestiques, even if he couldn’t win, he was certain he could learn a lot from them.

Unfortunately, his plans were destined to fall through.

In truth, for a rookie rider like him just entering the World Tour, victory wasn’t about winning every single race.

The opportunity to compete against a star-studded lineup like UAE’s so early on and learn their race rhythm was far more important.

As long as he could keep up with them, it would basically mean he had adapted to the pacemaking power of a top-tier World Tour team.

Of course, the Tour de France was a competition on another level entirely and couldn’t be compared to an ordinary race.

In fact, the Bora Team Leader lived up to his reputation as a World Tour director. Even if he could only field a third-string squad at the moment, his race experience was still incredibly vast.

After Rubio broke away, Bjerg didn’t hesitate for a moment. He decisively increased his power output, hitting an average speed of 34 km/h on the 6% gradient, and quickly caught and swallowed up the attacker.

This made Huang Chong realize just how profound the team leader’s repeated advice was—truly words of gold.

’If I had also launched an early breakaway or volunteered to respond to Rubio’s attack, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to shake off a master of pace control like Bjerg.’

After Rubio’s failed breakaway, the lead group continued climbing for several more kilometers. Only when they were 5.6 km from the finish line did Mauri Vansevenant of Quick Step Team launch another breakaway.

Huang Chong and the others knew full well what this rider’s attack was about; he wasn’t trying to win the stage himself.

He was just breaking away early to create an opportunity for his team leader, Van Wilder, to launch a solo attack later. It was a tactic to serve as a satellite rider, a final boost on the climb before completely burning himself out.

However, UAE’s Bjerg, even after pulling at the front for 15 km on the climb, still had enough energy. He soon led the group to successfully chase him down.

At this moment, UAE still had several riders in the lead group.

For instance, Vine and McNulty, who was wearing the red leader’s jersey.

But as the race entered the final 3.5 km, Bjerg’s energy was finally running low, forcing the pace to slow. At that moment, someone from the Decathlon Team—which also had a bunch of riders in the group—immediately moved to the front to take a turn and increase the pace, attempting to thin out the main group, which was now down to about 20 riders.

Huang Chong, who had been conserving energy in the middle of the group, could clearly feel the devastating power of the Decathlon rider’s acceleration. His own thighs were starting to burn.

Jais Peak was, in the end, just too difficult for him.

A full 19 km with an average gradient of 5.6%. He had never ridden such a long climbing stage, not even during his high-altitude training.

Just managing not to get dropped early on his first time riding a winding mountain road like this was already an exceptional performance.

Fortunately, the Decathlon rider blew up after pulling hard for about one kilometer.

And so, with 2 km to go, Bjerg, grimacing, once again forced himself to the front of the group, got out of the saddle, and started pulling.

Without a doubt, this was his final pull.

When the gradient hit 8%, he somehow managed to drag the speed up to 27 km/h.

As the finish arch drew closer, Huang Chong could clearly feel the roughly 20 remaining climbers around him all getting out of their saddles, preparing for the final showdown.

After drafting for so long, his own energy reserves were basically empty.

At this gradient and pace, at least, he could no longer keep up with the lead group while seated.

Then, as the race entered the final 1.4 km, just as the gradient steepened to its maximum of 9%—the very spot where Vingegaard had once launched his winning attack—Paret Peintre, a domestique for the Decathlon Team, decisively broke away from the UAE-led main group and began a suicidal lead-out attack.

The Decathlon Team’s leader, O’Connor, had clearly communicated with his domestique beforehand, as he immediately got on his teammate’s wheel. The two of them quickly opened a gap on the main group, surging a dozen meters ahead in an instant.

Seeing this, Huang Chong desperately wanted to respond.

’But with 1 km still to go, given my physical condition, I’m not confident I could stick with them to the end if I commit to a response.’

In the end, he gave up on chasing O’Connor, letting him be led out by his domestique for a hundred meters before launching into a solo attack.

Although Huang Chong didn’t initiate a response himself, his reflexes were sharp, and he quickly latched onto a UAE rider’s wheel.

In the face of O’Connor’s attack, McNulty and Bjerg were also unable to respond, forced to helplessly watch their rival ride further and further away.

Only Vine quickly accelerated and began the chase.

Huang Chong, without a second thought, gritted his teeth and glued himself to Vine’s back wheel.

As for Zwiehoff, whom he had been pacing all this way, he simply didn’t have the explosive power to keep up in the final kilometer on the 9% gradient.

Of course, the team’s coaching staff knew this as well.

That’s why the Bora Team Leader didn’t blame Huang Chong for dropping his own teammate in the final stage to focus on his own attack.

In fact, during the last few hundred meters, the team leader intentionally remained silent, not saying a single word, letting his two riders finish the final stretch according to their own abilities.