Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

Huang Chong took the sheet and glanced over it. He saw that the schedule was densely packed with over a dozen major domestic competitions alone.

If categorized by event type, they could be roughly divided into three groups:

first, the National Road Cycling League races hosted by the association; second, the major UCI-sanctioned tour races; and third, the key international and national championships being held this year.

The domestic league consisted of five stages and one final.

The first stage was in Mang City, Yunnan, from March 19th to 22nd.

The second stage was in Tongren, Guizhou, from May 12th to 16th.

The third stage was in Qianxi, Hebei, from June 10th to 14th.

The fourth stage was in Xinjiang Bole, from August 2nd to 6th.

The fifth stage was in Fangchenggang, Guangxi, from September 14th to 18th.

The final was in Shandong Haiyang, from November 16th to 20th.

The rules and format for the domestic league were the same for every stage, with provincial teams, Intercontinental Teams, and others competing in both men’s and women’s divisions.

There were four types of events in total:

Criterium, Individual Time Trial, Team Time Trial, and the Road Race.

One event would be held each day, usually with the men’s division in the morning, followed by the women’s division.

However, for the Road Race, the men’s and women’s divisions were not held on the same day but on two separate days. Therefore, the final day of competition was always the women’s Road Race.

After reviewing the domestic road league, Huang Chong turned his attention to the major UCI-sanctioned tour races. The team had marked four of them as key events:

The International Qinghai Lake Road Cycling Race, a 2.Pro Level event, held from July 9th to 16th.

The Tai Lake International Road Cycle Race, a 2.Pro Level event, held from September 14th to 17th.

The Hainan Island International Road Cycling Race, a 2.Pro Level event, held from October 5th to 9th.

The Tour of Guangxi, a 2.UWT (UCI World Tour) level event, held from October 12th to 17th.

Finally, there were three key international and national championship events:

The 2023 Asian Road Cycling Championships, held in Rayong, Thailand, from June 12th to 13th.

The 2023 National Road Cycling Championships, held in Chun’an, Qiandao Lake, from June 20th to 24th.

The road cycling events of the 19th Hangcheng Asian Games in 2023, also held in Chun’an, Qiandao Lake, from October 3rd to 5th.

After looking over the race schedule that spanned the entire year, Huang Chong felt a definite sense of pressure, even though he was mentally prepared thanks to his prior conversation with Zhang Guowei.

If he participated in both the ITT and the Road Race events, nearly every stop would be a multi-day race, and the intensity would be absolutely brutal.

"Coach Li, there really are a lot of races this year."

"And these are just the domestic ones—"

"If you add in the overseas events and the lower-level races, the team must participate in twenty or thirty competitions a year, right?"

Huang Chong joked with a wry smile after finishing his review of the calendar.

Hearing this, Coach Li chuckled but immediately corrected his misconception.

"Not quite. A cyclist’s energy and stamina are limited. The team’s roster for competitions has different areas of focus."

"We’re fighting on multiple fronts; we can’t have you competing in every single race."

"Besides, many of the races on the calendar you’re holding have overlapping dates. You won’t have to participate in every single one."

"And to be frank, for events like the Asian Championships, the Asian Games, and the UCI Level tour races, you first need to make it onto the National Team to even be eligible to compete."

"Our status as the Hengxiang Team alone isn’t enough to get an entry!"

"Of course, I need to be upfront with you. Your mission and Xiaoma’s this year are exceptionally demanding."

"That’s because your superiors have already made their requests to me. They hope you can further improve your competitive abilities through the team’s training camps and races."

"Ideally, after the first two domestic league stages, you’ll both be selected for the National Team and represent the country together at the Asian Championships in early June."

"If you can manage that, coming from the same team will make coordination much more familiar and convenient."

"The importance of the Asian Championships is self-evident. It determines whether we can secure spots for next year’s Paris Olympic Games ahead of time."

"So, the burden on your shoulders is far heavier than that of an ordinary cyclist!"

Hearing Coach Li’s words, Huang Chong felt the pressure on him intensify.

In the memories of his past life, the five cyclists sent by the National Team to the Asian Championships failed to secure a top-two finish in the road race. Only the women’s team managed to win a silver medal.

As a result, the men’s team naturally failed to qualify early for the Paris Olympic Games.

In the end, they had to rely on national points to rank in the world’s top 45, which only secured them a single entry slot.

’If I can help the country get a top-two finish at the Asian Championships, we’ll have a chance to get two Olympic slots. That would be making history.’

Huang Chong pondered for a long time before replying with a serious expression:

"Don’t worry, Coach Li. I understand what’s at stake."

"From now on, I’ll follow your arrangements diligently and complete my daily training exactly as you require!"

...

After spending less than a day in Shanghai, Huang Chong and Chen Junyi followed Coach Li to the training base.

As he was a cyclist within the state system, and the first race of the year was a domestic league event, they went directly to Mang City, Yunnan, for a pre-season training camp.

In fact, a large number of cyclists came here for winter training every year, and it had long since become a major training base for the sport.

Even the National Team had established a training base here.

The local government was very supportive of cyclists training in the area.

The winter climate here was ideal, with temperatures holding steady at around 20 degrees Celsius.

In addition, the terrain was complex, offering high-intensity climbing roads, flat city streets, and even various dirt roads, making it suitable for both road cycling and mountain biking training.

In short, this place and Hainan Island were the main hubs for cyclists’ winter training.

When Huang Chong arrived, he discovered that some of his teammates were already there.

For instance, Brother Xiaoma—who was his idol in his past life but his teammate in this one—had been training here for a while.

After a brief introduction to his teammates, he quickly threw himself into training.

Chen Junyi also joined the rides on the road bike Huang Chong had given her before the New Year.

However, no matter how much Huang Chong wanted to be considerate, he couldn’t ride lead for her to break the wind.

The skill gap between them was just too immense.

It was only after she started riding a road bike that Chen Junyi truly understood just how vast the difference was between an amateur and a Professional Cyclist.

Her stamina was by no means poor among women; in fact, it was excellent.

When she worked for the provincial team, she had to participate in daily training as well, and the intensity wasn’t low—it was basically the same morning routine as the athletes.

But once that level of intensity was applied to cycling, especially when compared to the male cyclists, it was like night and day.

During routine training, when Huang Chong faced the climbs in Mang City with gradients of around 7%, it was as if he were on flat ground; he could easily maintain an average speed of over 20 km/h.

Meanwhile, even after two months of cycling training under the personal guidance of Coach Li, her average speed when attempting these same climbs barely scraped past 10 km/h.

From this, it was clear that catching up to Huang Chong’s current level would probably be impossible in her lifetime.

"Xiaochen, don’t be discouraged. Even at my peak, I couldn’t match Huang Chong’s climbing ability. The kid’s an absolute monster."

Coach Li, who no longer led the team into battle as head coach but still loved to ride, was taking it slow with Chen Junyi today.

Seeing her panting on the climb, instantly dropped by Professional Cyclists like Huang Chong, and looking frustrated, he offered some words of comfort:

"You know, at first, I thought it was impressive enough that he was so strong on the flat stages."

"But after we came to Mang City for training, I realized that climbing is his real specialty."

"Right now, there’s not a single rider on our entire team who can beat him on a climb."

"Even the riders who joined us from Europe can only bow their heads and admit defeat."

"If I’m not mistaken, by the end of this year, the kid will most likely be scouted by a World Tour Team."

"At the very least, he’ll be picked up by one of the second-tier Pro Teams in Europe."

"By this time next year, I bet we’ll all be watching him tear it up on the European circuit!"