Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

After the race started, many riders went for a breakaway.

In a stage race, the four leader’s jerseys were not just about a rider’s honor; they also directly impacted the prize money distribution.

The only jersey of honor the breakaway riders could fight for was the Dash King Green Jersey, so a breakaway was essential.

With Huang Chong on their roster, the Bora Team was the top favorite for the general classification at this year’s Tour of Hungary. Naturally, they didn’t join the breakaway. Instead, their job was to control the pace of the peloton and manage the time gap to the riders up front.

Huang Chong rode within the peloton. The early part of the race was basically an easy ride in Zone 2, and the gap to the breakaway riders held steady at two and a half minutes.

This was with the cruising speed held around 40 km/h.

It was clear that if the Bora Team had wanted to give a serious chase, they would have caught the breakaway long ago.

For a World Tour Team, a speed of only 40 km/h on a mostly flat stage was a clear sign they were deliberately going easy.

After all, even the professional leagues in China regularly reached that kind of cruising speed.

Huang Chong didn’t mind, however. It was May in Hungary, and the temperature had already reached about 17°C. Spring was in full bloom, and the landscape was a tapestry of verdant green, with vast stretches of farmland and grasslands. The scenery was incredible.

The road conditions were also good. While they couldn’t compare to the four-lane superhighways of the Tour of Guangxi or the UAE Tour, the roads here across the plains, through the forests, and even in the countryside were all very smooth.

As he cruised along in the peloton, he treated it like a cycling tour.

Besides, if he didn’t come back to visit as a tourist with Chen Junyi, it was unlikely he’d ever return to these smaller countries for a Pro Level race again.

Of course, the race still had to be ridden. After four and a half hours of cruising in Zone 2, the finish at Kekes Peak was visible in the distance.

Seeing this, Huang Chong knew it was time to get serious.

The Stage 5 summit finish was tougher than the one on Stage 3, but if he could end the race’s suspense early and take it easy for the remaining stages, why wouldn’t he?

"Huang, the finish on Kekes Peak is coming up. I assume you can see it already.

At what point before the finish do you plan to launch your attack?

You can tell me before the climb begins, so I can have Zwiehoff and Buchman coordinate to support you!"

The team director for the second squad had managed Huang Chong before at both the Tour of Australia and the UAE Tour, so they were quite familiar with each other.

But afterward, as the Spring Classics began, Huang Chong’s success in the one-day races became unstoppable. He then raced under the personal direction of Aldag, and the two of them hadn’t had a chance to work together since.

Now, with Aldag away leading the A-team at the Giro d’Italia, they were finally partnered up again.

But even though the director knew Huang Chong was a humble person, his attitude and posture toward the star rider were clearly far more deferential than they had been at the start of the season.

His tone no longer sounded like a team director’s. Instead, he seemed to be deliberately fawning over Huang Chong—the superstar rookie destined for greatness on the World Tour circuit.

Huang Chong could, of course, sense this shift in attitude.

But this was all part of the commercialized world of professional cycling teams.

The weak respect the strong. It seemed to be the same everywhere.

Huang Chong had nothing to say about this.

He wanted to be the strongest man on the road, and he could be gracious and humble when dealing with others.

But when it came to commercial interests and his status within the team, he had to adapt to these unwritten laws.

So, he replied with commanding confidence:

"Director, have Zwiehoff and Buchman pull at the front with everything they’ve got for the next nine kilometers. Wear down the other teams’ GC contenders as much as possible.

As for me—

I’ll launch my attack the moment we hit the final three kilometers of the steep climb!"

...

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