Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

He knew Zhou Ming and Li Zifan, that was true, but he was by no means close with them.

They couldn’t even be considered casual friends.

Besides, before he became a Professional Cyclist, he was just an ordinary person. His social status alone would have made it impossible for him to have any significant interaction with them.

He said bluntly,

"Stop teasing me. It’s not as exaggerated as you make it out to be.

They’re friends with Dewey.

I just used to work at Old Du’s bike shop. I assembled and serviced their bikes for them, and that’s the only connection we have."

Chen Junyi nodded. Of course, she didn’t doubt Huang Chong’s words. At the same time, she immediately understood that the reason those two had this startup plan now was purely from a business perspective, not because of their friendship with Huang Chong.

She organized her thoughts before speaking.

"If that’s the case, then I think these capitalists—

Er, the heirs of business tycoons, they really do have a keen business sense.

After all, aside from your team contract, you haven’t signed any personal endorsements yet.

If you keep getting better and better on the World Tour in the future, say, by winning a major race, your fame and value will definitely skyrocket.

And gaining fame on the World Tour has a global impact. The domestic market will surely be affected as well, much like with tennis.

Once that happens, all the domestic endorsements in the cycling world will surely be concentrated on you, the sole standout.

So, while their plan seems bold, and even a bit of a gamble, it’s completely viable. Plus, they’re getting in very early."

Chen Junyi paused for a moment before continuing,

"Of course, given the resources of these two heirs of business tycoons, since they’ve chosen to team up, even if they just create a normal cycling apparel brand without betting everything on you, they definitely won’t lose money, considering the current popularity of road cycling in the country.

It’s just hard to say whether they can become a top brand like ASSOS, Rapha, CASTELLI, or MAAP.

After all, at the professional level in China, cycling is still a niche sport. Without a local, world-class cyclist to drive interest, they can only target the amateur scene.

But personally, I think for top business tycoons like them, who are already so established, they at least won’t have to struggle as much as a new company starting from scratch.

They could easily place this new company under one of their family’s conglomerates and develop it as a subsidiary.

When the new products launch, they can use their conglomerate’s internal promotional channels to market them. So I think for Dewey, working with these two definitely has more pros than cons.

He just might need to be extra careful with the partnership agreement."

This last part of Chen Junyi’s speech was clearly a direct answer to Dewey’s question.

This was also the question Huang Chong cared about most.

Out of concern for his good friend, he of course hoped Dewey would make money, not lose it.

But on second thought, Dewey was actually much more experienced in business than he was.

So when Dewey asked for his opinion, it was more to gauge how he was adapting to the World Tour and whether he had the potential to become a top cyclist.

On this point, Huang Chong, with his secret advantage, was of course very confident. So he took Chen Junyi’s words as a reference, tweaked them a bit, and replied to Dewey.

...

After the Tour of Australia ended, the team members who participated were all exhausted by the intense heat. The team immediately announced its withdrawal from the Ocean Road Race, so Huang Chong could only follow the team back to their headquarters in Germany.

Although he was physically fine, participation in the World Tour requires racing as a team, not as an individual.

And when he returned to the team headquarters, he was personally greeted and praised by the team’s CEO, Ralph Denke, and the Sports Director, Rolf Aldag.

"Oh, Huang, you are hands down the most outstanding rookie cyclist we’ve ever discovered since this team was founded."

As soon as Huang Chong got out of the team car, Denke walked forward with open arms and gave him a big hug.

He said with an excited look on his face,

"Honestly, we didn’t have high hopes for the overall results or the climbing stages at the Tour of Australia in the beginning. But with your incredible solo performance, you won two extra stage victories for the team.

Do you know, when I saw you on Willunga Hill, cutting through the peloton like an assassin in the final moments, dropping all the other teams’ GC leaders, I literally got goosebumps.

Thank God, I’m so glad you ended up joining my team.

I heard that after the Tour of Guangxi in your home country last year, you received invitations to join from many top teams, is that right?

If you had shown up on the Vismar or UAE Team this year, that would have been terrible.

Of course, I’m not saying those teams are bad, but if they had gotten you, I think I would have had even more sleepless nights for a long time to come!"

"Indeed. UAE had already signed the young Mexican cyclist Del Toro. If Huang had also joined their roster, UAE’s lineup depth would be terrifyingly deep for at least the next ten years!"

Aldag also gave Huang Chong a hug to welcome him back triumphantly, then said with a smile,

"Huang, even our own Primož was full of praise for you after seeing your performance this time.

I’m sure Tadej from the UAE Team, Jonas from the Vismar Team, and others all saw what you did.

You’ve truly made a name for yourself in your debut with a World Tour Team!"