Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

Chapter 179: Chapter 127: Successfully Completing the Learning Task of the First Career World Tour Race (2)

Arkéa Team, Israel-Premier Tech Professional Team, Bora Team, and Alpecin Team.

To extend their lead ahead of the peloton, the four-man breakaway had to be hitting speeds of at least 55-60 km/h.

This was a real eye-opener for Huang Chong.

’The top tier is on another level; even their most casual moves are beyond what a Professional Team can match.’

He recalled how at the Tour of Qinghai Lake, the European teams only hit these speeds during the final sprint in the last few kilometers.

But here, World Tour Team riders were hitting 60 km/h for a breakaway right at the start of the race.

It was, without a doubt, a demonstration of absolute dominance in both level and strength.

Coach Han and Chen Junyi were in the National Team support car, driving alongside Huang Chong and his four teammates. Chen Junyi’s voice came over the radio:

"Coach Han says not to make any rash moves on the first day. Just stick with your teammates and sit in the back of the peloton to draft.

First, just get used to the pace of a World Tour race and get a feel for it.

In the later stages, once you’re accustomed to their tempo, you can look for an opportunity to attack or join a breakaway.

In short, learn first, then make your move."

Huang Chong had no objections; the strategy aligned perfectly with his own plans. He replied immediately:

"Alright, I understand."

Soon, as the four riders in the breakaway up front picked up their pace, the cruising speed of the peloton also increased.

Riders from the Lotto Pro Team, Jumbo Team, and Movistar Team all began rotating pulls at the front of the peloton.

None of these teams had a rider in the breakaway, so they were keen on controlling the peloton’s pace.

Even though Lotto was a Professional Team, they were nothing like the Professional Teams from the Tour of Qinghai Lake, such as the Bardiani Team.

Back in the 2022 season, both they and Israel-Premier Tech had been World Tour Teams.

They were only relegated because they didn’t have enough team points last year, and were now replaced by Alpecin and the Arkéa Team.

However, their roster was still World Tour-level, with no significant difference in strength. They were also practically guaranteed to receive wildcard invitations to World Tour races for the next two years.

In other words, while the teams competing in the Tour of Guangxi were officially split into two tiers, the riders’ abilities were all more or less on the same level.

The race pace was fast. After half a lap, the peloton’s speed remained around 45 km/h.

The pace only eased up slightly when they reached the Crown Head Ridge climb.

Huang Chong had, of course, trained on the Crown Head Ridge climb beforehand, so he was very familiar with the specifics of the 1.5-kilometer-long segment.

The overall difficulty wasn’t high. Only the first 600 meters had gradients of 5.3% and 5.2%.

The middle 600 meters only had gradients of 4.0% and 4.3%.

And the final 300 meters would reach 4.8%.

All in all, given the climb’s low difficulty and short length, even the sprinters could definitely power over it.

The only real difficulty was that this forested road suddenly narrowed to just two lanes.

Combined with a series of turns on the descent, a crash would be a major problem.

However, Huang Chong and his teammates were riding at the very back of the peloton. At least there, they could be sure that if a crash happened up ahead, they wouldn’t get rear-ended by another rider and have a wheel run over their face.

Everything was going smoothly, without incident.

Because the course was mostly flat, and the World Tour Teams’ ability to control the race and form lead-out trains was first-class, the first two laps were completed with virtually no major incidents.

However, as the race entered the final lap with only about 30 kilometers remaining, the breakaway group was still 55 seconds ahead of the peloton. Huang Chong could clearly feel the riders at the front of the pack increasing the pace.

He glanced at his bike computer and saw their average cruising speed had reached 52 km/h.

’A pace like this would be unimaginable in the domestic leagues.’

In the breakaway, the Arkéa rider had contested the second intermediate sprint at the start/finish line on the final lap. He was the first to fall back and be reabsorbed by the peloton. To avoid being caught, the remaining three breakaway riders once again cranked their speed up to 60 km/h.

Watching this unfold, Huang Chong started to get a better grasp of the racing rhythm of the World Tour Teams.

’Aside from the breakaway riders, who went all-out for the entire stage, the peloton’s tempo changes usually happen at the very beginning and very end of the race.

They’d start off at a very high speed, but the middle section would be remarkably stable, with the cruising speed barely changing.

They’d maintain a pace of around 45 km/h and carefully manage the time gap to the breakaway.

If the breakaway ever tried to extend the gap to over a minute, the peloton would accelerate to close it down.

It was a lot like a game of cat and mouse.’

"How are you feeling, Huang Chong?

From now until the end of the Crown Head Ridge climb, the peloton is going to pick up the pace even more. They want to catch all the breakaway riders.

You need to be ready to accelerate at any moment."

From the team car, watching the speedometer climb, Chen Junyi’s timely warning came through.

Having drafted at the back of the peloton the entire time, Huang Chong still felt relatively fresh.

As Asia’s top rider, with an FTP Power approaching 400W, his average power output so far had only been around 300W—a comfortable Zone 2 aerobic ride.

Except for the Crown Head Ridge climbs on the first two laps, he had barely exerted himself.

He replied immediately:

"No problem. No matter how fast the peloton goes, I can definitely stick with them to the finish line."

"Good. Just finish this first stage safely and make sure you don’t lose any time to the main group."

Just as Chen Junyi’s voice faded, the peloton began to accelerate steadily, exactly as she had predicted.

By the time they reached the Crown Head Ridge climb, with only 19.5 kilometers to the finish, the peloton had already closed the breakaway’s lead to just 26 seconds.

A huge number of fans had gathered by the roadside on the Crown Head Ridge climb to watch the race.

Seeing the massive peloton surging up the slope from the base of the hill like a flash flood, they felt a mix of excitement and tension.

They all prayed that the National Team riders wouldn’t get dropped on the final climb—

Fortunately, their hopes were not dashed. Although the peloton’s climbing speed was very fast, approaching 30 km/h, Huang Chong and his four teammates had no problem keeping up with the main group on this first day of racing.

And so, after cresting the Crown Head Ridge climb and before the descent began, all the breakaway riders were caught and swallowed up by the peloton.

However, with 10 kilometers left in the race, Huang Chong suddenly noticed that all the teams at the front of the pack were rapidly assembling into formation. Riders in matching kits formed up in neat lines.

’This level of discipline completely blows the domestic league teams out of the water!’

As the race entered the final 5 kilometers, the peloton’s speed surged, immediately hitting 55 km/h.

In the final kilometer, the lead-out men for the Bahrain Team and the Ineos Grenadiers Team began an all-out acceleration, leading their designated sprinters.

Huang Chong, who was tucked in at the back of the peloton secretly observing the World Tour teams’ tactics, was completely stunned.

’Damn, when I sprint against others, I always try to wait until the last 200 meters or so before finding the right moment to go all out.

But these World Tour teams were already starting their sprint effort from the 1-kilometer mark!

And at speeds over 60 km/h, the lead-out men would pull from the 1-kilometer mark all the way to around 200 meters before peeling off and letting their sprinter launch their final, all-out dash!’

Huang Chong couldn’t see the exact power numbers of the riders in the high-speed sprint, but he was certain their maximum outputs had to be at least 1600W.

It was a level of explosive power that left him in the dust, only able to watch from behind—

In the end, the Bahrain Victorious rider, Milan, who had launched his sprint first, had a flare-up of his "forever second" curse. Just before the finish line, Ineos sprinter Viviani latched onto his slipstream, changed his line at the last second, and surged past to take the win, leaving Milan with second place.

As for Huang Chong, he stayed safely tucked in the peloton and crossed the finish line without losing any time.

He had successfully completed his learning assignment for his very first World Tour race.

Next, it was time for him to find an opportunity to go on the offensive!