Free Web NovelChapter 81: Chapter 81: Championship Lineup Determined, Clash of the 5 Powerhouses
The race continued—
Huang Chong’s misjudged breakaway had pulled all the title contenders into the front group far too early, completely distorting the race.
It wasn’t just the coaching staff of the major teams who wore grim expressions, wondering what on earth their riders were doing.
Even the managers of the three Intercontinental Teams, who had been watching from the sidelines for the past three days, were completely bewildered.
In such a long stage, for all the title contenders to break away this early... what was going on?
Who races like this?
This style of riding was unprofessional and far too aggressive.
Were these guys really so confident they could maintain a high-power output for the entire 140 kilometers, all the way to the finish line?
If not, weren’t they afraid of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory? Weren’t they worried about burning through their energy reserves prematurely, only to be overtaken by the weaker riders from non-contending teams in a massive upset from the second group?
...
"If you ask me, for this to be the highest-level national road race, it’s utterly absurd that it’s turned out like this."
"Yeah, it really shows how far our country’s professionalism in road cycling lags behind Europe. The race is less than a quarter of the way through, and all the Core Commanders have joined a breakaway. Isn’t that just a total mess?"
...
"I think the main culprit is Huang Chong from the Zhejiang Team. The guy’s incredibly talented, but he clearly lacks experience in major competitions. Chasing after a youth rider’s breakaway? It leaves you speechless!"
"He’s probably just a hot-headed young guy who can’t stand seeing anyone get ahead of him on the course. We’ll see how he does later. If his talent is truly exceptional, a lack of experience is something that can be cultivated over time."
...
"Sigh, what is that kid doing? Didn’t I tell him to hang back in the peloton and conserve energy?
How did he end up being the first of all the title contenders to launch a breakaway attack?
Isn’t this just him deliberately ignoring my instructions and messing around?
And these road race rules... why can’t they allow radios like in the World Tour?
Watching him race like this is just making me anxious on the sidelines—"
It wasn’t just the Intercontinental Team managers who were commenting on Huang Chong. When Xie Kun saw Huang Chong chasing the youth rider from the Longjiang Team, his face was clouded with worry, and he couldn’t help but start complaining. freewebnovёl.ƈom
Chen Junyi was sitting right beside him. Hearing Xie Kun complaining about Huang Chong, she naturally disagreed with his words.
Although she didn’t understand the tactical analysis of road cycling and only knew how to improve an athlete’s physical performance, after spending four months with Huang Chong day in and day out, she felt she had a pretty good understanding of his character.
In her view, Huang Chong was definitely not the type to feign compliance while secretly doing his own thing. He wasn’t someone who would say yes to your face and then just act on his own whims.
So, when she saw Huang Chong fall back behind Wang Bao to resume a steady, drafting pace after having pulled all the contenders into a new lead group, she thought for a moment and decided to speak up. freewebnøvel.coɱ
"Coach Xie, I don’t think Huang Chong meant to attack early.
He probably made a mistake and thought that youth rider from the Longjiang Team who broke away was one of their main team riders.
The race is already tense, and things on the course change in an instant. The main group is so big, and he was riding at the back of the pack, so he couldn’t have possibly seen the Longjiang Team rider’s face. It’s an understandable mistake.
At least now he’s following the strategy you laid out, sticking right behind Wang Bao and drafting, right?"
Hearing Chen Junyi’s explanation, Xie Kun was taken aback for a moment.
’The kid broke away early because he chased the wrong person?’
But thinking it over and considering the current situation, the possibility was actually quite high.
So, he had to suppress his complaints, calm himself down, and reply:
"Let’s just assume he mistook the rider for now. I just hope he doesn’t make any more aggressive moves like that. Otherwise, forget winning gold, even getting on the podium will be a pipe dream!"
He truly hoped Huang Chong could win a second gold medal, because an athlete’s performance was directly tied to his own interests as the team coach.
Even though Huang Chong hadn’t been trained by him at all, but rather by Chen Junyi one-on-one, the higher-ups at the bureau didn’t care about such details.
They only looked at the final results.
As long as he was the head coach of the road cycling project, the credit for an athlete’s victory would fall on him, and a share of the champion’s prize money would be deposited into his account.
In any case, as an assistant coach, Chen Junyi certainly wouldn’t be able to partake in such a bonus.
As for whether the bureau would give her an extra reward based on the actual circumstances, that had nothing to do with him, Xie Kun.
...
As the race entered its fourth lap, the youth rider from the Longjiang Team, following the tactical arrangement from his "big brothers," launched another breakaway attack.
Meanwhile, the three adult riders moved to the front of the group in formation and began to control the pace.
This was a display of their seasoned experience on the race circuit—a powerful ability to control the field and create a successful breakaway opportunity for their "little brother."
Huang Chong didn’t mistake anyone this time. His eyes were glued to the three adult riders from the Longjiang Team.
He knew their intention was to control the pace first to secure the championship in the youth division.
He had seen through their objective but had no intention of stopping them.
’Besides, my team’s youth rider was dropped so long ago he’s nowhere in sight. If I go chase the Longjiang Team’s youth rider now, it’ll just look like I’m trying to mess with them on purpose.’
’Not only would I make enemies, but people would probably think I’m crazy.’
’Now’s the time to save energy. I’ll just maintain a steady rhythm and make sure the Longjiang Team riders in my group don’t try to break away.’
Soon, another 20 kilometers passed, and the fifth lap began.
Even for the adult division, the race was now approaching its halfway point.
As planned, upon entering the fifth lap, one of the Longjiang Team’s riders launched a breakaway.
Wang Bao, who was responsible for pacing Huang Chong, had learned his lesson this time. Seeing a title contender shoot forward, his first reaction was to turn his head and ask:
"Someone from the Longjiang Team broke away. Should I increase my power and lead you in a chase?"
Hearing this, Huang Chong first glanced at Liu Yunyou of the Hong Kong Team and the riders from the Shanghai Team. He saw that none of them were reacting. The other two Longjiang Team riders were also sitting calmly in the group, coasting as if they had all the time in the world. He thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"No, don’t chase. This attack is to help their youth rider win the championship. Once their young rider secures the win, that guy will automatically drop back to the peloton."
Wang Bao was quite surprised by Huang Chong’s answer and couldn’t help but think:
’So the adult division can work together with the youth division?’
’How come I never thought of that?’
But then he glanced behind him and, seeing no sign of his own team’s youth rider, gave up on the idea.
The skill gap was so vast that even if he wanted to help, he was powerless to do so.
As Huang Chong had expected, at the end of the fifth lap, the Longjiang Team once again claimed the championship for the youth division’s road race.
They also took second place.
However, the time gap between the two was unexpectedly huge.
The first-place finisher’s time was 2:31:24, while the second-place finisher’s was 2:53:21—a gap of more than twenty minutes.
And just as the youth division’s race was concluding, the adult division’s race was only just beginning to heat up.
Lap six. The two remaining Longjiang Team riders, who had been lying low for nearly three hours, launched an attack without a moment’s hesitation.
The Hong Kong Team and the Shanghai Team immediately followed.
Wang Bao, leading Huang Chong, also began to give chase.
But before the sixth lap was even half over, after riding for 110 kilometers, Wang Bao was starting to crack.
Not only did his heart rate redline, but his legs also quickly grew heavy.
Huang Chong saw that his teammate couldn’t hold on any longer but was still gritting his teeth to persevere. He quickly pulled up alongside Wang Bao and said:
"Don’t force it. Drop back to the main peloton.
You’ve already paced me for 110 kilometers, you’ve more than completed your mission. Just sit in with the main group and aim to finish the race.
I can handle the rest of the way on my own!"
Wang Bao actually wanted to keep pacing Huang Chong, at least until the end of the sixth lap.
But the Longjiang Team riders weren’t giving him that chance.
Their surge in pace had reached a full 45 km/h, a speed that required a power output he simply couldn’t sustain.
He could only nod bitterly and say to Huang Chong:
"Go for it, brother! You have to win this. It’s all up to you now!"
Huang Chong didn’t say anything more. He simply took one of the two water bottles on his bike, filled it with the system-provided electrolyte sports drink, and handed it to Wang Bao.
He knew his teammate had already finished all his own supplies while pacing him.
’Anyway, the electrolyte drink is just an orange-flavored beverage. It tastes similar to Gatorade and provides a very limited amount of energy, so he won’t be able to tell anything is different.’
As for the Rapid Recovery Energy Bar, he decided against giving one.
That thing’s effects were too extraordinary—it could instantly and completely erase fatigue.
If Wang Bao ate one, he would definitely notice something was off. Huang Chong didn’t want to cause trouble for himself.
So, he gave a bottle to his teammate, took a few sips himself, and then set off alone to chase the Longjiang Team riders.
Overall, for the first hundred kilometers, he had been riding aerobically in Zone 2. Aside from a brief push into Zone 3 when he first chased the breakaway, he had barely used any energy.
So when he set off to chase the riders from the Longjiang, Hong Kong, and Shanghai teams, his body was still in peak condition.
He didn’t even need to chew on an Energy Bar. He quickly latched onto their wheels and, following Coach Xie’s strategy, refused to take a turn at the front.
No matter how fast the Longjiang Team riders pushed the average speed, he stuck to them like glue, glued to their rear wheels.
The Longjiang Team riders were extremely confident in their own strength. After a few surges, they quickly caught up to their teammate who had broken away earlier, reforming their trio.
After that, the three of them began to rotate, consistently maintaining a base average speed of 45 km/h.
At the same time, they launched wave after wave of attacks, pushing the speed up to 47, even 48 km/h—
This resulted in them successfully shaking off and completely dropping the support riders from both the Shanghai and Hong Kong teams by the end of the sixth lap.
Finally, as the race entered its seventh lap, only five riders remained in the lead group at the very front of the race:
the Longjiang Team’s trio, Liu Yunyou from the Hong Kong Team, and Huang Chong.
This meant that today’s champion would be decided among these five riders.
So, who would be the first to cross the finish line?
This was the final answer that everyone watching the race was desperately waiting for.
