Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

Chapter 175: Chapter 125: A Year and a Half of Hard Training, Finally on the Best Stage (Part 2)

And so, after the banquet, as soon as she and Dewey got home, she excitedly told him everything she and Chen Junyi had discussed at the dinner table. She urged Dewey to find some time to tell Huang Chong about Chen Junyi’s attitude and see if he was interested.

But after hearing her out, Dewey just gave her a sidelong glance. He wasn’t surprised at all. Instead, he said teasingly,

"Those two are together day in and day out. Even a block of wood would have developed feelings by now.

It’s a done deal. Do we really need to get involved?

You’re such a busybody!"

Hearing her husband’s mockery, Wu Fang, who had already taken off her shoes and socks and climbed into bed, gave Dewey’s chubby butt an uncharacteristic kick. Flustered, she snapped,

"Oh, you think you know everything? I was just trying to help your buddy find happiness!

You make it sound like I enjoy playing matchmaker. Hmph!"

Seeing Wu Fang lose her temper, Dewey just chuckled and quickly replied,

"Alright, alright, alright. I know you mean well, but we really don’t need to worry about this. Huang Chong is probably dying to make Chen Junyi his wife right now."

"Really? Did he tell you that himself? That he likes Chen Junyi?"

"You bet. Besides, with Chen Junyi’s looks, and being so outstanding on top of that, what man wouldn’t be interested?

If my buddy isn’t even moved by a girl that great, he’s either emotionally stunted or gay.

If I were him, I would’ve made a move long ago. I can’t believe he’s held out this long. After all, an opportunity like this won’t come around again!"

The moment the words left Dewey’s mouth, he found his wife sitting stock-still on the bed, staring daggers at him.

Her gaze was as sharp as a jealous woman’s knives.

...

After attending the victory banquet Dewey held in his honor, Huang Chong immediately returned to the National Team.

It was the golden month of October. Although the end of the year was approaching, several of China’s most important races were crammed into this month.

Right after the Asian Games was a Pro Level event: the Hainan Island International Road Cycling Race.

It ran from October 5th to October 9th.

Of course, because this race was immediately after the Asian Games, there was no way Huang Chong and Brother Xiaoma could represent the Hengxiang Team. Coach Li had already taken the other team members to Hainan Island.

And besides the Tour of Hainan Island, from October 12th to 17th, there was the six-day Tour of Guangxi—one of only two World Tour races in Asia, and the only one in China.

Huang Chong was definitely participating in this race; Coach Han had put him on the roster long ago.

Now that he was the number one road cyclist in Asia, there was little point in "smurfing" in the domestic leagues. For the sake of his future development, Coach Han naturally wanted him to go head-to-head with World Tour Cyclists.

Even if he couldn’t secure a high rank or make a final push for UCI points for the country before the Olympic qualification window closed, the opportunity to learn from World Tour Cyclists was simply too rare to pass up.

Besides, Huang Chong had already earned plenty of points for the country this year. His world ranking had broken into the top 35, leaving him hundreds of points clear of the 45th-place cutoff.

Theoretically, they had all but secured a second Olympic slot.

Most importantly, Coach Han wasn’t like some short-sighted provincial or municipal leaders who would cling to talented cyclists and bind them to the state system for their own selfish interests.

Especially after Huang Chong’s rise to the top in Asia, he was even beginning to look forward to the cyclist’s performance at the Olympics next year.

He was certainly not going to let such a promising talent waste his youth competing only domestically.

In short, his true intention was to give Huang Chong his full support to go abroad—preferably to Europe—to develop his career on a bigger stage.

That was also why he had been so excited after the Tour of Qinghai Lake, when two Professional Teams had proactively sent invitations.

Of course, it would be even better if Huang Chong could join a World Tour Team directly.

This wouldn’t just mean he could ride in the highest-level professional cycling league in the world, competing alongside the best cyclists; it would also serve as a massive promotional tool for the development of the sport throughout China.

He knew very well that for any sport to truly grow, its professional culture had to first enter the public consciousness. People needed to understand the rules, and only then would it be possible for more of them to get involved.

The domestic cycling craze hadn’t faded yet. If Huang Chong could successfully break into the World Tour at this critical juncture, then with the help of mainstream media coverage, it would undoubtedly provide a massive boost to the development of professional road cycling in the country.

"For this Tour of Guangxi, we are sending a total of five cyclists, though Lü Xianjing will not be participating.

So, in addition to Huang Chong, Ma Binyan, and Niu Yikui, we have Su Haoyu and Liu Jiankun. Let’s welcome them to the team."

After the Asian Games, Coach Han only gave Huang Chong and the other two a single day off before gathering everyone to prepare for their departure to Guangxi.

Huang Chong was no stranger to Su Haoyu and Liu Jiankun.

In his previous life, these two had become pillars of the national road cycling program by 2025, competing together in the World Championships in Rwanda.

After having Huang Chong and the others perform a small welcoming ceremony for Su Haoyu and Liu Jiankun, Coach Han handed out a list to everyone and continued,

"This is the roster of teams for the Tour of Guangxi. Take a look. Including our National Team, there are eighteen teams in total!

Not all the World Tour Teams are coming; only fourteen of them. Therefore, there will also be three Professional Teams participating as wild cards.

I know you’re all under a lot of pressure and feeling nervous about competing on the same stage as World Tour Cyclists.

But if you want to improve and achieve better results, competing against the world’s best is unavoidable. I hope you will all cherish this precious training opportunity and make a serious effort to learn from them.

I’m not expecting any spectacular results from you in the Tour of Guangxi, but I do hope all of you finish the race.

As for you, Huang Chong, given the course profile, you need to focus on Stage Four. It’s the only one that truly plays to your strengths."

In his past life, Huang Chong had watched the Tour of Guangxi broadcast live. Although he’d never had the chance to ride the stages himself, he knew that five of the six stages were flat sprinter stages. There was only one mountaintop finish: the Nongla Mountain climb.

In China’s road cycling circles, there was a popular saying about the race’s unique characteristic:

He who conquers Nongla, conquers the Tour of Guangxi!

This meant that on the other five flat stages, it was impossible for the World Tour Cyclists to create any significant time gaps among themselves; they would all cross the line in the main bunch with the same time.

The only stage that could create time gaps was the Nongla Mountain climb, also known as the Queen Stage of the Tour of Guangxi.

As long as a cyclist could be the first to summit Nongla Mountain and cross the finish line, they would essentially have locked up the general classification victory and the Yellow Jersey for the Tour of Guangxi.

Therefore, hearing Coach Han’s words, Huang Chong immediately understood the implication: this year, the Nongla Mountain climb was Stage 4.

He nodded.

"Understood, Coach Han. Once we arrive in Guangxi, I’ll make sure to ride the Nongla Mountain climb a few times to get familiar with the course!"

He then turned his attention to the team list and saw that the fourteen World Tour Teams participating in this year’s Tour of Guangxi were:

(UAE) Emirates Airline Team

(Alpecin) Alpecin Team

(INEOS) Ineos Grenadiers Team

(Cofidis) Cofidis Team

(Wanty) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux Team

(Arkéa) Arkéa Team

(Trek) Trek Team

(Jayco) Jayco Team

(Jumbo-Visma) Jumbo-Visma Team

(DSM) Team DSM

(Bora) Bora Team

(EF Education) EF Education Team

(Movistar) Movistar Team

(Bahrain) Bahrain Victorious Team

And the three Professional Teams were:

(Premier) Israel-Premier Tech Professional Team

(Tudor) Tudor Professional Team

(Lotto) Lotto Pro Team

This meant that among the World Tour Teams, only (Astana) Astana Team, FDJ Team, (Soudal Quick) Quick Step Team, and (AG2R) AG2R Citroën Team were absent.

Seeing these team names, it was impossible for Huang Chong not to feel a thrill of excitement.

This was the list of teams he had dreamed of joining in both his past life and this one!

After a year and a half of grueling training, he was finally on the same stage, ready to compete against these top-tier teams.

Now was the time for him to hold nothing back and show them exactly what he was capable of!