Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

Chapter 139: Chapter 109: Three Jerseys in One Again, Winning with an Absolute Advantage

Hurtling down the descent, Huang Chong was like an arrow shot from a fully drawn bow, his speed unbelievable.

As a UCI Pro-Level race, the Tour of Qinghai Lake was, of course, broadcast live with chase cameras.

And so, as everyone following the race fixed their eyes on the aerial shots from the broadcast helicopter, they saw not only the magnificent road the Chinese had built on Laji Mountain, but also the Chinese cyclist’s display of ultimate speed upon it.

It was a twofold visual shock, a duet of human achievement and natural landscape, easily ranking as the most stunning footage in sports broadcasting this year.

Unfortunately, while CCTV5 was also broadcasting the entire Tour of Qinghai Lake, the audience for cycling in China was lukewarm at best. As a result, not many fans were able to witness this spectacular moment.

But while the fans missed their chance, the managers and coaches of the international teams following alongside the peloton were watching Huang Chong’s solo performance, their eyes glued to the screen in rapt concentration.

At that moment, they finally came to a realization: in that great nation in the far East, there existed Road Cyclists whose courage, technique, and power output were all truly top-tier.

"I must admit, this Chinese cyclist looks like a bullet right now, weaving through the serpentine road as it descends.

Wind resistance, corners, danger—no external factor could stop him from charging toward the finish line.

Our cyclists can’t catch him.

Not in this stage, at least. It’s impossible now!"

As the manager of the Bardiani Team, one of the five Pro teams, his objective for the race was, of course, to win the overall leader’s Yellow Jersey.

But after seeing Huang Chong’s incredible performance, he could tell from his years of experience in road cycling that no matter how the riders behind them worked together, they would never be able to catch him before the finish line.

He knew the skill of his own cyclists, or rather, he knew the general skill level of all Pro-Level Professional Cyclists worldwide.

For cyclists at this level, averaging over 90 km/h on a descent wasn’t necessarily difficult. But averaging over 100 km/h? That was another story entirely.

That was the level of a World Tour Cyclist.

And things turned out just as the Bardiani Team manager had predicted. Whether it was his own cyclists or the peloton that began descending together after cresting the Laji Mountain Pass, their top speed only reached 93 km/h. This was a full 9 km/h slower than Huang Chong’s 102 km/h—a speed so fast he looked like he could fly off a cliff at any moment.

Huang Chong, leading the pack by a wide margin, safely reached the foot of Laji Mountain.

Although he had been here once before, as he entered the region of karst landforms that rose like towering yellow platforms, he was still deeply struck by the beauty of the Guiding County National Geopark.

’Before these towering, overlapping peaks, how small and insignificant am I?’

Today, however, clad in the National Team kit, he would demonstrate his power as a Chinese cyclist to his peers from around the world, under the watchful gaze of these very mountains.

"Huang Chong! You did it! Oh my god, do you know what your top speed was on that descent?"

Only after Huang Chong had completed the steep section of the descent and smoothly reached the gentler slopes at the foot of the mountain did Chen Junyi’s trembling voice finally sound over the radio. She had been so tense the entire time that she hadn’t dared to breathe, her slender fingers clenched so tightly that her palms were slick with sweat.

"Did I break 100 km/h?"

Huang Chong could hear the tension and tremor in her voice.

He had to admit that this level of emotion from her was quite rare.

"Yes, you did. Your top speed hit 102 km/h, while the highest for any other cyclist on the descent so far is only 93 km/h.

You must have widened your time gap to everyone else on that descent!

But please don’t do that again. That speed was terrifying. I didn’t even dare to take a deep breath, afraid I’d distract you over the radio.

And you know, your speed through every corner, your racing line, everything... it was all pushed to the absolute limit.

Coming out of every corner, both of your wheels were practically scraping the concrete guardrail at the edge of the road.

You really didn’t have to push yourself that hard on the descent!"

As an assistant coach, Chen Junyi’s last few words were tinged with personal emotion and worry.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t good advice for a Professional Road Cyclist.

After all, road cycling is a type of extreme sport. It inherently requires cyclists to push limits others can’t reach, to squeeze out even the slightest advantage in order to win.

But Huang Chong knew she was worried about him and didn’t want him to crash on the course.

It was just like the famous saying from the Tour de France:

Professional Cyclists can’t win the Tour de France on the first day, but it’s possible for their entire race to end on the first day.

Chen Junyi, of course, wanted him to have a long and successful professional career. She didn’t want Huang Chong’s overly aggressive and risky choices to bring that career to a premature end.

Huang Chong thought for a moment. Even as he was pushing his maximum lactate threshold power, furiously charging toward his first-ever UCI-sanctioned stage victory, his tone was exceptionally gentle as he replied to Chen Junyi over the radio: