Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

Chapter 167: Chapter 121: The Three-Protect-One Tactic, The Team’s Only Hope (Part 2)

In the end, after the two women’s road cycling events were over, the team had come away completely empty-handed, save for a single gold medal won by a rider from Hong Kong.

Fortunately, the men’s team’s performance was far more promising. Not only had Huang Chong already secured the ITT gold medal, but he also had a solid chance at a medal in tomorrow’s road race.

"Tomorrow’s race will be incredibly difficult. There’s no doubt about it.

Although the Japanese Team only has two riders competing, the strength of Arashiro Yukiya and Koishi Yuma cannot be underestimated.

And besides the Japanese Team, we also need to keep a close eye on riders like Cham Ba from the Mongolian Team.

As for the four riders from Kazakhstan, I don’t need to say much. You’re all well aware of their capabilities.

This time, they’ve sent their strongest lineup: Lutsenko, Yevgeniy, Gelber, and Demetrius.

Three of them competed in the Asian Championships back in June, and now their roster is even stronger.

But unlike the mid-year competitions when riders are at their peak physical condition, the riders from Kazakhstan have just finished an entire season on the World Tour. This is when their bodies are most fatigued.

So, if we plan our tactics smartly and have Huang Chong isolate their strongest rider, Lutsenko, for a one-on-one, we still have a chance at a good placement."

At this point, Coach Han brought out a pre-prepared course elevation profile. He pointed to Dragon Ridge at the 125-kilometer mark and addressed Huang Chong and the other three riders:

"From this point until the summit of Zitong Ridge at the 134-kilometer mark is the toughest section of the entire course.

The Zitong Ridge climb itself is two kilometers long, with an average gradient of over five percent.

Knowing Kazakhstan’s racing style, they’ll definitely have a core rider launch a breakaway right from the start. Then, for the first 125 kilometers, they’ll use a high tempo to wear down the riders from other countries.

Then, starting from Dragon Ridge—the hardest part of the course—Lutsenko will use the difficult climb to launch a solo breakaway and completely drop the riders from other nations.

Based on an analysis of everyone’s strength and the number of races you’ve all competed in this year, Huang Chong is the only one on our team who can handle the pressure of the climb after enduring a high-speed chase on the rolling sections.

So, the three of you have only one mission in tomorrow’s race: for the first 125 kilometers, you must protect Huang Chong at all costs. Let him draft behind you to conserve energy.

Once the race hits the Zitong Ridge climb, given Lutsenko’s strength, when he puts down an anaerobic burst, even his own teammate Yevgeniy won’t be able to keep up.

So Huang Chong, your job is to stay glued to Lutsenko on that five-percent climb and, in the process, drop his teammates.

From then on, it’s you and him, one-on-one. Whatever you do, don’t let him link up with a teammate like he did at the Asian Championships. They’ll use two riders in rotation to wear you down.

In a one-on-one, you have a fighting chance. But winning one-on-two is just too difficult!"

Huang Chong highly approved of Coach Han’s pre-race tactical analysis.

At the Asian Championships, after the hardest climb of the race, he had been subjected to relentless, coordinated attacks by two riders from Kazakhstan all the way until the final five kilometers, which completely shattered him.

Back then, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t drop them.

In an anaerobic burst, he couldn’t match Gelber, a rider with the attributes of a classics specialist.

When it came to threshold power, he was evenly matched with Yevgeniy.

In short, that was the most frustrating race Huang Chong had ever ridden.

It was from that moment on that the idea of a grueling high-altitude training camp in a snowy region took root in his mind.

Now, more than three months later, not only had he earned a silver medal at the Asian Championships and a wealth of points as the overall champion of the Tour of Qinghai Lake, but he had also increased his FTP Power. Through his grueling training in the snowy mountains, he had naturally boosted his power output and other performance metrics.

In terms of overall ability, he was confident he had now surpassed Yevgeniy, who had just recently joined the World Tour.

He nodded and said,

"I have no problem with that, Coach Han!"

When the other three heard this, they exchanged a look.

In truth, all three of them knew full well that their mission was far easier than Huang Chong’s.

Although Coach Han’s strategy, from its inception, was a blatant sacrifice of the three of them to serve as domestiques.

But it also meant they only had to ride well for the first 125 kilometers.

So, the three of them nodded to each other and replied in unison:

"We don’t have a problem either!"

...

Over on the Japanese Team, the atmosphere had been a bit off since the end of yesterday’s ITT.

Koishi Yuma’s finishing time was a staggering 2 minutes and 29 seconds behind Huang Chong’s—just one second shy of two and a half minutes.

And seeing Huang Chong not only overtake but also defeat Lutsenko at the last moment to take the win, they were almost angrier than the Kazakhstan riders themselves.

It’s just that as a people, they were masters of hiding their emotions and would never let it show.

"Isn’t this Chinese rider’s rate of improvement a little too fast?"

On October 5th, the day of the race, the Japanese Team’s head coach was sitting in the team car as they arrived at the starting line with the riders. Seeing Huang Chong laughing and joking with his teammates under the starting arch, he couldn’t help but turn to the Mechanician beside him.

In a road race, the coaching staff can only follow the peloton in a car carrying spare bikes, in case a rider suffers a mechanical failure mid-race.

However, continuous radio communication with the core riders is forbidden during the race.

Of course, the team car can carry plenty of supplies. At official feed zones, the driver is responsible for handing them out the window to the designated domestique, ensuring their lead rider has enough fuel to last the entire high-intensity race.

The Mechanician didn’t know how to answer the head coach. He was just in charge of bike maintenance. After a moment’s thought, he could only offer a careful, ambiguous reply:

"Perhaps they’re pouring the full resources of the state into training this one rider?"

The Japanese Team’s head coach was quite dissatisfied with this answer.

His real question was whether Huang Chong was using some kind of undisclosed high-tech advantage.

But the Mechanician clearly didn’t share his malicious suspicions and hadn’t even considered that possibility, so the coach dropped the subject.

He stuck his head out the car window and spoke in Japanese to his riders, who were still waiting for the start:

"Koishi, remember, you must protect Arashiro! At the very least, don’t get dropped in the first 125 kilometers. You have to make sure he’s in the fight for Zitong Ridge!"

Koishi Yuma, who was built like a wiry monkey, felt a wave of bitterness upon hearing this. But he couldn’t refuse, so he could only bite the bullet and nod.

"Understood, Coach!"

Just as their conversation ended, the clock struck ten in the morning. The final road cycling event of the Asian Games, the men’s individual road race, officially began.

Since the road race started and finished at the entrance to the sports center, riders were forbidden from attacking on the one-kilometer, single-lane path where Huang Chong had previously staged his incredible comeback.

They could only follow the lead commissaire’s car, like a ceremonial parade lap, slowly making their way to the main road around Qiandao Lake. Only when the commissaire displayed the green flag were they allowed to attack freely.

The moment the commissaire gave the signal, the peloton instantly erupted into action and began to fracture. A large group of riders accelerated on the road around the lake, launching breakaway attacks.

Huang Chong, tucked in behind his teammates, saw this unfold but didn’t react immediately.

Coach Han had already made it clear that his three teammates would protect him for the first 125 kilometers, so there was no need for him to waste his own energy chasing the breakaway group.

However, after the peloton had ridden for about five kilometers, Kazakhstan’s Lutsenko and Yevgeniy began to furiously chase the breakaway. Brother Xiaoma, who was leading out Huang Chong, immediately latched on and joined the attack.

Just as expected. Kazakhstan’s tactic was as simple and direct as ever: send their riders in better form to launch a joint breakaway, attempting to use raw power to overwhelm the top riders from other Asian nations.

Soon, by the 30-kilometer mark, a breakaway group of about twenty riders had formed, and their lead over the main peloton had already stretched to around thirty seconds.

Huang Chong glanced at the precise data on his bike computer and saw that their cruising speed was an astonishing 46 km/h.

And the rider at the front of the group, driving the pace, was none other than Lutsenko of Kazakhstan.

There was no question about it. Seeing his posture, it was clear he intended to rely on his raw power and attack all the way to the finish today!