Free Web NovelChapter 146: Chapter 112: We Cannot Miss This Great Opportunity to Win the Championship (Part 2)
Of course, both of these riders were sprinters. They had pulled ahead of GC Cyclists like Huang Chong by over two minutes in the stage, but they were already thirty to forty minutes behind in the general classification.
So, when the GC contenders saw the two of them go for a long-range breakaway, they couldn’t be bothered to give chase.
After the fourth stage, Huang Chong still hadn’t been dropped despite the fast pace deliberately set by the Medellin and Bardiani teams. As a result, the general classification standings for him and the other four main contenders in the top five remained unchanged.
「July 13th.」
The fifth stage of the Tour of Qinghai Lake, from Menyuan to Qilian, got underway.
Unlike the fourth stage, whose latter half was a gradual incline perfect for breakaway riders, today’s stage was structurally similar to the second. It started with a climb, reached its highest point in the middle, and then was all downhill for the remaining half.
However, the First Category Climb in the fifth stage was nowhere near as difficult as the Laji Mountain Pass. Plus, every team had learned their lesson from Huang Chong back in the second stage and had no intention of letting him break away again.
So the entire peloton stayed glued together from start to finish, leaving the sprinters to fight for the Green Jersey at the end.
Huang Chong, holding a massive lead in the overall standings, was not foolish enough to compete with the real sprinters for the Green Jersey and the stage win.
After all, those beasts were incredibly fast during a sprint, and they were notoriously fierce and violent when jockeying for position. As a comparatively lean GC Cyclist, if he took an elbow during the final push, his race would likely be over on the spot.
In the end, he stayed behind the sprint group and crossed the line safely with the other teams’ lead riders, resulting in no change to the overall standings.
However, the Bardiani Team’s lead rider, Mulubrhan Henok, did actively join the final sprint in an attempt to close the time gap, managing to gain a few seconds on Huang Chong.
「July 14th.」
The Tour of Qinghai Lake had now reached its sixth day of competition.
Today, all the riders would cycle from Qilian to West Sea Town.
This stage also started with a climb, but it wasn’t very difficult—just a category two.
Huang Chong, who had been taking it easy for two straight stages, finally made a move for the people of Qinghai waiting at the top for an exciting finish. He contested the category two climb, earning 5 points for the national team in the process.
When the stage’s remaining category three climb came up, he couldn’t be bothered to contest it.
He dutifully tucked in behind the other teams’ lead riders and began to conserve his energy.
After the two climbs in the sixth stage, the course from the 98km mark to the 205km finish line was almost entirely a gradual descent. The peloton had no choice but to let the sprinters showcase their anaerobic power once again, while the main contenders all crossed the line together to ensure their own safety, with no time gaps between them.
Six stages were now complete. Seeing that Huang Chong refused to be dropped no matter how they increased the pace or stretched the peloton—sticking to their lead rider like glue—the Bardiani Team manager was filled with despair.
It was safe to say that at this point in the race, the mission he’d brought his team to the Tour of Qinghai Lake to accomplish—winning the championship—was 99% a lost cause.
The remaining 1%, a purely theoretical chance for a comeback, lay in the seventh stage from West Sea Town to Gonghe. Specifically, on the 7.1-kilometer-long First Category Climb with an average gradient of 6.7%: the South Mountain Pass.
He knew the physical condition of his riders after six days of high-intensity attacks; they were all utterly exhausted.
Looking at his exhausted, weather-beaten team members, he dropped his usual sarcastic and sinister tone.
After all, he had followed the riders in the team car for the entire six days of the race and had witnessed Huang Chong’s formidable strength and resilience firsthand.
’This guy is nothing like my stereotype of a Chinese cyclist. There’s no conventional way to make him crack.’
’Unless I get a World Tour Cyclist, and a particularly strong one at that, there’s no way to drop Huang Chong.’
With a sigh, he began to encourage his own riders.
"Gentlemen, tomorrow is the seventh stage. The race is drawing to a close.
Without a doubt, all of you have shown incredible solidarity and given it your absolute all in this race.
It’s just a shame that back in the second stage, due to an intelligence failure, we were strategically complacent and lost a significant amount of time. Since then, we haven’t found a single opportunity to close the gap on the Chinese rider.
I must admit, the primary responsibility for this situation lies with me, not with you!
But as you all know, the race isn’t completely over. Tomorrow’s seventh stage still holds one last possibility for a comeback—no matter how small that possibility may seem.
But in competitive sports, until the final whistle blows, the possibility of a miracle always remains.
So, I hope that in tomorrow’s race, you can all rally and give your all to support our GC leader, Mulubrhan, for one last push.
We have to bet that after six long days of exertion, the Chinese rider’s stamina is nearing its limit, and that he will finally crack tomorrow on that mountain climb, which is damn near an HC Level climb.
If that gamble pays off, then clawing back a five-minute-plus gap on that incredibly difficult climb is not impossible.
So, I need you all to fight to the very last moment, to work together to create this seemingly impossible, yet still attainable, great miracle!"
...
「At the China National Team’s support quarters.」
Although all the team members who had come to Qinghai to compete were present, several of them had already withdrawn from the tour.
Coach Han hadn’t selected the strongest riders in the country, but rather young cyclists from various provincial teams who showed potential.
This meant that whenever Huang Chong faced a climb in this tour, he had to rely on his own ability or draft behind other local Intercontinental teams just to avoid being dropped by the European teams.
But after enduring six stages, Huang Chong, the holder of the Yellow Jersey, now looked exhausted and travel-worn.
To be honest, after six days of racing, Coach Han couldn’t find a single fault with Huang Chong.
His eyes held nothing but admiration and a deep sense of empathy for the boy.
It was the kind of empathy one would feel for a beloved protégé, something he didn’t hide, nor did he feel the need to.
Huang Chong’s tenacious will had deeply moved Coach Han, a man now in his fifties.
Not only had he withstood the repeated attacks from the foreign riders, but he had remained diligent and conscientious from start to finish, never uttering a single word of complaint.
But at the end of the day, he was still just a young man in his early twenties who had never experienced this level of competition before!
But the race wasn’t over, and the final victory was not yet in hand. So, for now, Coach Han had to keep all his sentimental feelings bottled up. With as much rational seriousness as he could muster, he spoke to Huang Chong, Brother Xiaoma, and the others.
"At this stage of the race, the general classification situation is crystal clear.
This is probably the closest a Chinese cyclist has ever come to winning a UCI Pro Level multi-day race championship.
We cannot let this golden opportunity slip away.
Because none of us know how long it will be before we get a chance like this again.
In truth, you all know very well that in professional road cycling, there is a real gap between us and the traditional European powerhouses.
But this time, through his immense strength, unyielding will, and iron-like tenacity, Huang Chong has single-handedly closed that gap between us and the nations of Europe.
So in this final stage, we must hold on. We can’t relax for even a second. We have to help him just a little bit more, so he can ride more smoothly toward the champion’s arch at Chaka Salt Lake that symbolizes final victory.
And to truly achieve that, tomorrow’s South Mountain Pass is undoubtedly the final hurdle.
Therefore, even if you have to ride yourselves into the ground, you must escort him safely to the foot of the mountain before the climb begins.
Do you all understand?"
