Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

Even the best-laid tactics only work if your opponent falls into the trap.

The members of the Hangcheng Team were completely caught off guard by Huang Chong’s refusal to respond.

In a road race, riders aren’t allowed to use radios to communicate with their coaching staff.

So, as the race entered its middle stages, Wang Bao and his two teammates were at a loss for what to do.

After Zhou Zitong was reeled in by the peloton, he could only shake his head in frustration and quickly fall back behind Wang Bao and his other teammate to regroup.

Huang Chong, who had been stuck to Wang Bao’s wheel, saw Zhou Zitong fall back. When Zitong gave him a strange look, Huang Chong just offered a friendly smile.

He even actively made space, allowing the other rider to get back behind his teammate.

But in reality, he had already figured out the Hangcheng Team’s strategy.

They were up against the guy who had won the ITT through sheer power. It was impossible for them not to have cooked up some kind of strategy against him for the road race.

After all, who doesn’t want the championship title?

It wasn’t just about a rider’s honor and prize money; it was also about securing a spot in the official provincial team selection.

These Group A riders were all over twenty. If they didn’t seize this chance to turn professional, they’d be stuck on amateur teams, competing in amateur races and making a living by selling products on livestreams.

’These kids... they’re actually trying to use the Jumbo Team’s tactics on me? Trying to wear me down with repeated attacks? I’m not Pogačar—’

Huang Chong found it amusing as he watched Zhou Zitong fall back in front of him.

In truth, it wouldn’t have been a problem for him to respond to the attack.

His current cardiopulmonary fitness was off the charts.

What was the advantage of having world-class cardio?

Without a doubt, it was the ability to recover quickly after an anaerobic attack.

An average rider would burn through most of their stamina after a single anaerobic burst and suffer a rapid buildup of lactic acid.

But if Huang Chong had really wanted to counter, he could have not only dropped these young guns with his powerful cardio alone, but he also had an Energy Bar as an ace up his sleeve. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

He just didn’t want to attack too early in the road race and score another victory in an overly conspicuous, crushing fashion.

Of course, that’s what he and Chen Junyi had planned before the race, but Wang Bao wasn’t about to play along.

So, as the race entered its third 20-kilometer segment and the riders passed through the starting arch to begin another lap, Wang Bao launched a direct attack on the flats.

Because he was thinking:

’Since Huang Chong isn’t responding to Zitong’s attack, I’ll launch a solo breakaway at the 40-kilometer mark and hold it to the finish!’

With his abilities, he was indeed capable of a 40-kilometer breakaway, maintaining an average speed of no less than 40 km/h.

But what he didn’t expect was that the moment he got out of the saddle and blasted away from the peloton with an eight or nine-hundred-watt burst, Huang Chong, who was right behind him, responded instantly and glued himself to his wheel.

Given Huang Chong’s explosive power, he hadn’t even gone all out with those first few pedal strokes out of the saddle; it was just enough to stay with Wang Bao.

Wang Bao quickly noticed the rival on his wheel. Seeing him sticking so tenaciously, the pressure mounted.

’Weren’t you ignoring the attacks? Why are you on my wheel the second I make a move?’

He was absolutely fuming.

It felt like Huang Chong was targeting him at every turn in this race.

And so, in a fit of anger and stress, he threw all caution to the wind. The outcome, the tactics—none of it mattered anymore.

Without a second thought, he gritted his teeth and continued his out-of-the-saddle attack.

In an instant, they had pulled nearly a hundred meters clear of the peloton behind them, the gap widening rapidly.

When the other five teams saw the pair attack, they considered responding. But one look at their explosive speed made them think twice.

That kind of anaerobic burst was too costly. If they failed to keep up, they’d risk blowing up completely.

It was better to just sit safely in the peloton until the end and battle it out in the final sprint. Fighting for the bronze medal was the smarter play.

By now, Huang Chong had completely figured out Wang Bao’s intentions.

The guy had gone for a solo breakaway because he’d seen Huang Chong ignore Zhou Zitong’s earlier attack. He was trying to sneak away, hoping Huang Chong wouldn’t have time to react.

But Huang Chong wasn’t stupid. He hadn’t followed Zhou Zitong’s attack because he could see the other rider’s power output posed no threat to him.

He was confident he could easily reel him in just by pedaling in the saddle.

Wang Bao’s power, however, was clearly much higher.

Besides, the guy had talked trash to him before the race. Not responding now would be spineless.

’What kind of athlete would he be if he didn’t have a little fire?’

So Huang Chong marked Wang Bao relentlessly. No matter how his rival attacked or what power he put out, Huang Chong stayed right on his wheel, calmly sitting in his draft.

"Bro, since we broke away together, you’ve got to take a pull, right?"

"How can you just sit on my wheel and draft off me? Have you no shame?"

After attacking for two or three hundred meters, Wang Bao was already starting to struggle.

This damn rain... and the wind was especially strong.

If he kept leading the whole time, there was no way he’d make it to the finish. The peloton would reel them in quickly.

Hearing the frustration in his rival’s voice, Huang Chong remained unperturbed. He even felt a little like laughing.

But on the surface, he just nodded and said in a deadpan voice,

"Alright. Since you want me to take a turn, I’ll pull for a bit."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he upped his power to 300 watts and started pulling Wang Bao along.

This wasn’t his Zone 4 lactate threshold power; it was merely a Zone 3 endurance pace.

And with the rain and treacherous crosswinds, his average speed was only around 40 km/h.

But for Wang Bao, who was still recovering from his attack, this pace was already at his lactate threshold.

Even while drafting, he had to go all out just to stay on Huang Chong’s wheel.

He was on the very verge of cracking, desperately hanging on to Huang Chong’s wheel.

At the 55-kilometer mark, as they approached the 2.5% climb again, Huang Chong, who had been pulling for nearly 10 kilometers, glanced back. He saw Wang Bao, his face pale, grimacing in a mask of pure agony.

He knew his rival was about to break.

So, with a ruthless thought, he rose from his saddle and launched an attack on the long, gradual climb.

A thousand-watt burst, as if an engine were strapped to his legs. In just a dozen seconds, his speed shot up from around 40 km/h to over 60.

The moment Wang Bao saw Huang Chong get out of the saddle, he knew something was wrong and tried to respond immediately.

But after just two pedal strokes, he found his thighs felt like they were filled with lead. He couldn’t turn the pedals.

Only then did it dawn on Wang Bao. In the preceding 10 kilometers of threshold riding, he had burned too much energy, falling completely into Huang Chong’s tempo without even realizing it.

He had already hit his limit far too early.

’Fuck!’

Wang Bao let out a silent roar of fury, realizing he was utterly powerless to respond.

His heart was filled with bitter resentment, but all he could do was watch helplessly as Huang Chong disappeared up the long, gradual climb.

Up ahead, having opened a gap with that short burst, Huang Chong wasn’t foolish enough to keep riding anaerobically.

He quickly lowered his power and heart rate, bringing the intensity back down to his threshold. He then settled into a solo effort at around 320 watts.

There were no riders ahead of him. Behind him, Wang Bao was still struggling on the long climb, the gap between them growing with every second.

This power was more than enough to secure the victory. There was no need to push himself to the absolute limit.

Soon, he reached the U-turn at the 60-kilometer mark and began the return leg of the course.

The return leg meant making the turn and heading back on a parallel two-lane road.

The course was a circuit race on two parallel roads, separated only by a median strip. It was 20 kilometers out and 20 kilometers back, making for a 40-kilometer lap.

So, as Huang Chong headed back, he would pass all the riders still on their way out on the other side of the road.

The result was predictable. When Wang Bao, on the other side of the road, saw Huang Chong already descending at full speed, he himself was still about a kilometer away from the 60-kilometer U-turn.

The total gap between them had already stretched to a full two kilometers.

When the peloton crossed paths with Huang Chong, they were even further back—about two kilometers from the U-turn.

"Holy shit, that kid’s already on his way back?"

"How big is his lead? A full four kilometers?"

"I’ll be damned. What kind of monster is he? Did the higher-ups send him just to torture us?"

"Where’s Brother Bao? Didn’t he break away first? Why isn’t he even on that guy’s wheel?"

"Don’t tell me... he already got dropped by Huang Chong?"

In the peloton, whether it was Zhou Zitong from the Hangcheng Team or riders from the other squads, seeing Huang Chong already on his way back filled them with a deep sense of powerlessness and an urge to curse.

Because his strength was just on another level.

After being drawn out early by Wang Bao and forced to go solo, Huang Chong didn’t bother increasing his power. He simply completed the final 20 kilometers through the wind and rain at a steady 320 watts, crossing the finish line first.

But even while holding back, he still claimed the road race championship in a crushing, uncontested victory, successfully securing both gold medals for the Men’s Group A.