Chapter 77: Chapter 77: The Last 4km, Can He Still Hold On?
December 23rd, 9:00 AM sharp.
The Men’s Elite ITT, the first event of the competition, was the first to begin.
The weather today was excellent. The sun shone brightly in a sky as clear and blue as if it had been washed clean.
But being the dead of winter, the weather in Changzhou was already bitterly cold. Even with the sun out, people’s breaths plumed like humidifiers, each exhale of carbon dioxide forming a thick cloud of mist.
And when that cold air was sucked into the lungs, a bone-deep chill made people shiver uncontrollably, as if their very souls were about to be frozen out of their bodies.
In this regard, Huang Chong’s advantage in resisting low temperatures was on full display.
He had previously taken a system-rewarded Antifreeze Pill, which had completely optimized his body’s constitution in this respect, granting him a permanent boost.
He only needed to warm up for a short while on the stationary trainer before the blood in his body began to circulate rapidly, bringing his temperature right up.
This was a much better situation than the other cyclists, who needed a long time to get warmed up.
Furthermore, while all the other cyclists competing in such cold conditions were uniformly dressed in thermal bib tights and long-sleeved jerseys, he was still just in a short-sleeved jersey and bib shorts, a testament to his formidable constitution.
In this kind of speed-focused race, both the low temperature and the long pants would affect power output. The fact that Huang Chong’s lower body could withstand the cold meant that, in a way, he already had a lead on all the other riders.
"The riders representing the Longjiang Team in the ITT today are Bai Lijun and Li Honghai. They both start before you. I’ll be right behind you in the car to give you real-time reports on their split times and average speeds."
While Huang Chong was warming up and waiting for his start, Chen Junyi held her small notebook and provided him with information on the riders to watch out for during the race:
"Besides those two, you also need to watch out for Liu Yunyou from the Hong Kong Team.
All three of them have registered times at the National-level Athletic Champion standard.
They basically represent the pinnacle of our country’s current strength in road cycling ITT."
Huang Chong nodded upon hearing this, not saying much.
In fact, in the next few National Road Cycling Championships, the average speed of the ITT winners would consistently break 50 km/h.
Riders like Xue Ming from the Tianjin Team and Miao Chengshuo from the Shandong Team were top contenders in this event.
Although there was still a significant gap compared to the world’s top riders, being able to break an average speed of 50 km/h on a flat course was actually quite impressive.
At the very least, they had reached the level of a World Tour Cyclist.
Of course, one couldn’t become a World Tour Cyclist just by being good at ITTs. After all, the proportion of ITTs in the World Tour was pitifully small, appearing only in stage races.
Soon, Huang Chong’s teammate, Chen Guangyi, started his race. His start time was relatively early, placing him third in the overall start order.
There were ten teams in the competition this time. For the individual event, each team basically sent two riders, so the total number of participants was around 20.
Huang Chong was set to start 18th, which meant Chen Guangyi would basically be finished with his race by then.
Chen Guangyi’s average speed was around 43 km/h, which was at the Level 1 athlete standard—a level that was more or less at the bottom of the pack in this competition.
This was the National Road Cycling Championships, after all.
Chen Guangyi’s results would have been good enough to win a provincial games, but on the national stage, compared to the top-tier experts present, they were just good enough to qualify for entry.
Xie Kun drove the support car, following Chen Guangyi the whole way and communicating via radio, but he didn’t actually have any performance expectations for him. As long as he finished the race smoothly, it was fine.
In the end, Chen Guangyi gave it his all, and his final time managed to match his registered time: an average speed of 43 km/h, with a total time of 55:08.43.
As for his ranking? Among the first three riders to start, he was definitely in last place!
After finishing, Chen Guangyi almost collapsed on the ground, panting heavily like an exhausted ox.
Huang Chong, who was just heading to the start line, passed by and patted him on the shoulder. He didn’t say a word, but he gave a thumbs-up as a sign of respect.
Anyone who could finish a high-intensity ride of nearly an hour deserved respect.
Even though the other guy had gossiped about him behind his back at the base, after he returned from the provincial games with two gold medals and crushed them in the team qualifiers, Chen Guangyi had stopped spreading rumors about him.
He had earned the other’s respect with his own strength.
Chen Guangyi was actually quite embarrassed. He had indeed gossiped about Huang Chong with his teammates before.
But apart from firing back at him once at the dormitory entrance before the provincial games, the latter had shown no further signs of retaliation.
Especially after Huang Chong won the two gold medals, he hadn’t chosen to come back to the base and mock him to his face, which made Chen Guangyi feel even more ashamed.
’Now that I think about it,’ he thought, ’compared to his character, I’m the one who acted like a scoundrel, even though I’m his senior.’
In the end, Chen Guangyi, knowing full well he had no hope of winning a medal, hesitated for a moment before taking the initiative to speak to Huang Chong on the starting ramp:
"Go for it, brother!"
Huang Chong looked back at him and gave a serious nod.
As athletes, they both understood in their hearts that this was it—the ice was completely broken between them.
Then, as the official started the countdown in front of Huang Chong with gestures and words—"Five, four, three, two, one, go!"—he shot down the ramp on his TT bike.
Once he reached the flat ground, he stood up and rocked the bike, instantly pushing his power output over a kilowatt. Then, once his speed reached his most comfortable threshold zone, he returned to an aerodynamic, seated pedaling position.
The moment he started, the support car—driven by Xie Kun with Chen Junyi responsible for calling out numbers—immediately followed him from the reserved lane next to the starting ramp.
On the roof rack of their car was a spare TT bike, ready for a quick swap in case Huang Chong had a mechanical failure mid-race.
Time flew by, and Huang Chong soon passed the 15 km mark, reaching the first official time check.
Both members of the Longjiang Team had started before him. One of them was the very first rider to start and had already finished the race long ago.
With a total time of 51:37.103 and an average speed of 46.7 km/h, he was currently, without a doubt, first in the overall standings.
The second Longjiang Team rider had started just one position ahead of Huang Chong, with only a three-minute gap between them.
After Huang Chong passed the 15 km mark, Chen Junyi began relaying data over the radio:
"Huang Chong, your average speed at the first time check is 47 km/h, with a time of 19:14.893. The Longjiang Team rider ahead of you is almost identical, but he’s leading you by three seconds. You can pick up the pace a bit!"
Huang Chong hadn’t gone all out right from the start.
For a race lasting nearly an hour, especially in the cold, it wasn’t wise to go too hard too soon.
However, upon hearing he was three seconds behind after the first section, he immediately put in a few hard pedal strokes as he entered the short, steep climb of the second section.
In an ITT, the gap you can create by increasing power on a flat road is actually limited.
But on a climb, if you can put in a few anaerobic efforts, the gap will immediately become apparent.
So, when Huang Chong passed the second time check at the 30 km mark, the message that came from Chen Junyi over the radio was much more reassuring:
"Huang Chong, at the second time check, your average speed is still 47, but your opponent lost a lot of speed on the climb. Your total time has now surpassed his, and you’re leading by about eight seconds. Keep it up!"
Meanwhile, as Huang Chong completed one and a half laps around the scenic area and was about to enter the final 10 km, the Longjiang Team rider who had started before him was, of course, also receiving Huang Chong’s real-time splits from his own coach over the radio.
When he found out that after 30 km, Huang Chong was actually leading him by eight seconds, he was utterly shocked.
’A rider from the Zhejiang Team is leading me after the first two time checks?’
’Is this some kind of sick joke?’
’The Zhejiang Province professional road cycling team was only established a few years ago!’
’In the beginning, they even had to recruit their top riders from traditional powerhouses like our Longjiang Team and the Shandong Team just to barely keep up with the national standard.’
’I can’t believe they’ve managed to develop a top-tier expert so quickly!’
Thus, with only a few kilometers left to the finish, this rider from the Dragon Team decisively dug deep and began to sprint with all his might. In the final two hundred meters, he got out of the saddle and rocked his bike furiously, ultimately finishing with a time of 51:06.638 and an average speed of 47 km/h, temporarily taking first place in the overall standings.
He was now slightly ahead of his teammate.
This was the absolute limit of what he could achieve in the cold conditions.
And as soon as he crossed the finish line, Chen Junyi immediately relayed his competitor’s final time to Huang Chong.
Huang Chong was now less than 4 km from the finish, and so, almost all the bigwigs at the event had their eyes fixed on him.
It wasn’t just the riders from the Longjiang Team, the Hong Kong Team, and the Shanghai Team who were staring intently at him.
The team managers of the three Intercontinental Teams who had come to watch the race—Huaxing, Hengxiang, and Li Ning Star—were also paying close attention to him.
At the same time, a question arose in all their minds, unbidden:
Where did this young rider from the Zhejiang Team come from?
Why had no one ever heard of him before?
After all, under normal circumstances, any good prospect in Chinese road cycling would have already started to make a name for themselves as a junior.
They were always scouting, so it was impossible for them to have missed such a strong young rider.
Huang Chong’s performance in the first 36 km of the ITT was nothing short of a revelation. His current real-time split had him leading the first-place rider by about 10 seconds.
If he could hold on for the final 4 km, which included a climb, and maintain this lead all the way back to the visitor center, then he would very likely become the first National ITT Champion to cross the finish line at these National Championships.
So, could he hold on for these last 4 km?
This was the answer the managers of the three Intercontinental Teams were desperate to find out.
