Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

In the world of professional road cycling, riders can be broadly categorized into several types:

All-around GC Cyclists, sprinters, endurance riders, Climbers, and time trial specialists.

Among these, the all-around GC Cyclists often serve as the Core Commander of their respective teams. All domestiques (endurance riders), tactics, and so on must revolve around the leader to help them win the general classification in a multi-day stage race.

These include races like the three Grand Tours, the seven major week-long stage races, and even some one-day races with complex terrain.

The most outstanding representative of a GC Cyclist is the active rider from Slovenia: Tadej Pogačar.

Not only is he an unbeatable Climber, but he also possesses formidable sprinting ability. He can win the overall championship at the Tour de France and also go toe-to-toe with van der Poel in the five Monument classic one-day races.

Riders who specialize in sprinting, on the other hand, are typically muscular men with large frames and terrifying explosive power.

Especially in the final two hundred meters of a sprint, a sprinter’s maximum power can reach a terrifying output of over 1500W in just 15 seconds.

Their duty is singular: to win the flat stages through a Sprinting Burst at the finish line, earning sprint points.

In the Tour de France, for example, the rider with the most sprint points ultimately wears the Green Jersey, the "sprinter’s jersey."

But while the Green Jersey changes hands every year, if you look at the entire history of the sport, who is the most famous sprinter of all?

If Huang Chong had to choose, he would unhesitatingly pick the Isle of Man Missile, Mark Cavendish, who would go on to become the winningest rider in Tour de France stage history with a grand total of 35 victories.

As for the riders who specialize in climbing, they strive to win climbing points on mountain stages (points are awarded differently based on the climb’s category) to win the final Polka Dot Jersey for "King of the Mountains."

Huang Chong himself loved to climb, but he didn’t want to become a Climber who focused solely on that discipline.

After all, with the evolution of professional road cycling, all-around Mars People like Pogačar have already appeared.

’How could I be content with being just a pure Climber, with the Polka Dot Jersey as my career goal, while ignoring the Yellow Jersey—the symbol of the overall champion and the highest honor?’

Of course, the Tour de France was still a distant dream. He first had to cross a thousand mountains and rivers, his wheels rolling over countless miles of asphalt, gravel, and dust. Only then could he reach that promised land and compete against the greatest Road Cyclists, to conquer the highest mountain in his heart.

"Hey buddy, how are you feeling on the climb?

We’re still a long way from the hairpin turn on Taizi Peak. Remember to adjust your gear ratio to maintain a good cadence.

Also, don’t burn through your energy too quickly. Otherwise, you won’t have enough left to ride to the summit in one go on that final long climb with a 480-meter elevation gain."

Riding in front of Huang Chong was Chen Guangming. Of the three, he was the quietest, but he was also the first one who had suggested inviting Huang Chong to join the team.

At the same time, he was a true big brother who never held anything back when giving Huang Chong pointers, always speaking his mind.

Huang Chong actually had a wealth of climbing experience from his past life. After all, his hometown, Xianyun County, was a mountainous county surrounded by peaks on all four sides.

Except for the relatively flat roads within the town itself, the moment you left the suburbs, you were met with endlessly winding mountain roads.

So, he was no stranger to matters like selecting the right gear ratio to maintain cadence during a climb, or managing his stamina and hydration rhythm.

He smiled and nodded.

"Thanks for the reminder, Brother Chen. I’ve got it. I feel pretty good right now. The gradient is only about 2% or 3%, so keeping up with the group for now shouldn’t be a big problem!"

After Huang Chong broke through 200W for his FTP Power, and with his weight down to around 71.5 kg today, his Power-to-Weight Ratio had reached over 2.8.

If he just wanted to stay with the main group, it wasn’t difficult.

But if he were asked to pull for everyone, he definitely couldn’t do it.

After all, to maintain a speed of over 30 km/h on a long, gentle slope against a headwind, his average power output would need to be at least 210W or more.

To achieve that kind of power, he would have to get out of the saddle and rock the bike. There was no way he could reach that speed while seated.

But rocking the bike was meant for getting over extremely steep sections, not something that could be maintained for a long time like seated pedaling.

"That’s good. As long as you can stick with the main group and not get dropped easily, joining the team will be no problem.

The captain doesn’t require members to have amazing individual results. As long as there isn’t a huge gap between you and the other members—like getting dropped and disappearing the moment the intensity picks up, affecting the group’s overall ride—he’ll basically take you in!"

Chen Guangming was essentially giving Huang Chong the inside scoop on Zhang Yi’s recruitment criteria. Although it would ultimately come down to the latter’s own legs, having a clear goal often allowed a person to grit their teeth and push through the hardest part, even when they thought they were at their limit.

However, as the mileage wore on, the main group passed through the Western Zhejiang Grand Canyon. With only 20 kilometers left to Taizi Peak, the elevation would climb from just over 400 meters to over 1,300 meters, and it was all uphill.

Huang Chong didn’t know that after the entire Zhejiang Western Sky Road was completed and opened, this very climb would become a segment for the Tour of Zhejiang Western Sky Road KOM climbing race.

In his past life, he had planned to come and compete on this Sky Road. Unfortunately, there were too many applicants—as many as a thousand people—and entry spots had to be decided by a lottery. He never got picked, so he missed out with regret.

But in this life, under Zhang Yi’s lead, he was getting to experience this 20-kilometer, HC Level long climb ahead of everyone else.

As it turned out, despite staying at the very back of the group the entire time and never once taking a turn at the front, he didn’t get dropped from exhaustion. Instead, some riders in the group who weighed more than him were the first to start cracking.

Such is the brutality of high-mountain climbing.

It’s not like flat or downhill sections where riders can use the momentum of their rolling wheels to coast, giving their weary legs a brief moment of rest.

When facing a steep slope, even if you’re drafting behind the main group, if a rider’s power drops for even a moment, they will be brutally punished by gravity.

Therefore, riders must maintain a high power output the entire time just to move forward in the high mountains.

"Whoa, buddy, you’re doing great! Half our team has been dropped, but you’re still stuck to us like glue. Why don’t you come take a turn in the climbing rotation?"

Just then, Liu Junjie, having finished his turn at the front and dropped to the back of the group to rest, was shocked to see Huang Chong still clinging to the tail of the first group, not having vanished from sight like the others who had been dropped.

He knew that when Huang Chong had pulled for them on the flats the previous night, he had already been going all out just to maintain 32 km/h, with a power output of only around 180W.

But there was no way that amount of power could keep him with them on this long climb.

During a climb, no one could maintain a high average speed. The drafting efficiency was far lower than when cruising on the flats. It was much more dependent on each individual’s own power output.

Liu Junjie knew very well that at the main group’s current average speed, each rider had to be putting out around 200W just to keep up.

So how was Huang Chong doing it?

He simply couldn’t wrap his head around it.

’Could this kid be a natural-born climber, a Chinese version of Vingegaard, whose power output on a climb is even more outstanding than when cruising on the flats?’

The thought alone seemed incredible to him.

He knew that professional Climbers like Vingegaard tended to have very lean bodies, with only their thigh muscles being extremely developed.

But Huang Chong’s current build could only be described as average; he was nowhere near being skinny.

So with a build like his, how could he be so good at climbing?