Chapter 402 - 198: It Is Because of His Meteoric Rise That Our Country Can Contend Head-On with Europe

So, by the time CCTV started its live broadcast, Huang Chong and the others had already ridden for over 150 kilometers. The race was long past its halfway point.

But the remaining 120km were, without a doubt, the main event.

The CCTV host first introduced the main contenders of the day before turning the conversation back to the race itself. He began:

"Good evening, viewers across the country!

Welcome to our live broadcast of the Men’s Road Race at the Paris Olympic Games.

Before we get into the live action, a quick reminder: the race has already been underway for about three and a half hours, and the riders have covered approximately 150 kilometers.

But there are still nearly 120 kilometers to go, and Director Xiao and I will be here to bring you live coverage and commentary.

Before we begin the official commentary, I’d like to give all our viewers a brief summary of the current race situation.

Right now, our two Chinese Road Cyclists, Huang Chong and Lü Xianjing, are both safely in the peloton.

Ahead of them is a breakaway group of five riders, currently holding a three-minute lead.

However, the five-man group at the front is not the same as it was at the start. Three of the original riders have been caught and replaced by three others who attacked from the peloton.

These three riders who broke away during the race are Ryan Mullen from Ireland, Viviani from Italy, and the Greek rider Georgios Bouglas.

They have joined the two remaining riders from the initial breakaway, Christopher Lagane and Charles Kagimu, to form the new lead group.

It’s worth noting that the rider from Ireland, Ryan Mullen, is one of our own Huang Chong’s teammates on the World Tour Team, Red Bull Bora.

Director Xiao, now that we’re at this stage of the race, do you think the peloton will start to chase down the breakaway group?

And in your opinion, do our two Chinese riders have a chance at a medal in this Paris Olympic Games?"

Director Xiao was one of the most senior figures in Chinese road cycling and was very knowledgeable about the World Tour scene.

During the Tour de France, he was also a frequent guest commentator for China Sports.

After hearing the host’s questions, he answered directly:

"Thank you for the questions!

I believe that at this point in the race, following the typical European racing style, we will definitely see a change in pace from the peloton in another ten or twenty kilometers.

Don’t be fooled by the breakaway’s three-minute lead. Once a real contender decides to give chase, that gap will close very quickly. If strong breakaway specialists from the World Tour, like Ben Healy of the Ireland Team or Madouas and Vauquelin of the French Team, launch an attack, that gap will be erased in no time.

As for whether our two riders have a chance at a medal, if you’re asking for my personal opinion, it might be difficult for Lü Xianjing, but Huang Chong definitely has a shot.

After all, any cycling fans who have followed this year’s World Tour know just how outstanding his performance has been.

He can not only win top-tier stage races, like the UAE Tour, but he is also well-suited for one-day classics. He’s a versatile GC Cyclist.

Although he lost to Pogačar in both the Liège Race and the Tour de France this season...

...he won several other top one-day races when Pogačar wasn’t competing, like Crossing Flanders, Flèche Wallonne, and the slightly lower-tier Milan-Turin Race.

He could have also easily won the one-day race held in Frankfurt, Germany.

But in the end, he deliberately gifted the victory to his domestique, Adrià.

And in terms of terrain, the routes of these spring classics are undoubtedly very similar to this year’s Paris Olympic Games course.

First, the routes are very long.

Second, they include numerous short, steep climbs.

It’s true that the final cobbled climb on Montmartre is the kind of terrain favored by van der Poel of the Dutch Team and Van Aert of the Belgium Team.

However, Huang Chong has already been tested on this kind of cobbled road in the Crossing Flanders race.

I believe that since he was able to win on the cobbled roads of Crossing Flanders, he must have specifically trained on this type of terrain with his team during last winter’s training camp.

So, as long as he times his efforts perfectly, he not only has a chance to win a medal, but he also has a very high probability of going for the gold.

Furthermore, in the recently concluded Tour de France, he finished second overall, even beating Vingegaard, the defending champion from the past two years.

And the only opponent who beat him, Pogačar, is not competing in the Paris Olympic Games this year.

Therefore, he truly has a great opportunity at these Olympics to achieve a historic breakthrough for our country in this event!"

Hearing Director Xiao’s analysis, the host added with a smile:

"That’s right, Director Xiao. I happen to have Huang Chong’s track record right here.

I have to say, this young rider from Zhejiang Province has taken the entire road cycling world by storm, from the moment he joined the provincial team all the way to the Tour de France.

From his early domestic career in the Provincial Games and National Championships, to last year’s Tour of Qinghai Lake, Asian Games, and National Pro-League, to his time in the World Tour—in races like the UAE Tour, Tour of Hungary, Crossing Flanders, and Flèche Wallonne that Director Xiao mentioned—he has won them all.

We have to admit, it is because he burst onto the scene that our country can now compete head-to-head with the cycling powerhouses of Europe in this sport!

We hope that in the remaining 120 kilometers, he can deliver his best performance and end China’s medal drought in Olympic road cycling!"

As the CCTV live broadcast officially began, more and more cycling fans from across the country flooded into the CCTV video stream.

Immediately, the screen was flooded with scrolling comments like "Go, Huang Chong!" and "Fight for the gold!"

But while expectations were high, the race itself was certainly not going to be as easy or simple as everyone imagined.

With 92.6km remaining to the finish line, after more than three hours of steady riding, a rider in the peloton finally made a move.

The host nation’s rider, Valentin Madouas of the French Team, was the first to attack on the Cote de Chateaufort climb.

This climb was 0.9km long with an average gradient of 5.1% and a maximum gradient of 6.5%.

For a World Tour Cyclist, based on the numbers alone, a short climb like this naturally isn’t very difficult.

But after 182km of grueling riding and attrition, and having already completed seven climbs, when Novak of Slovenia took the front and increased the peloton’s pace to chase, the less powerful riders from African nations were instantly dropped in this wave of attacks.

Huang Chong watched Lü Xianjing, who was riding as his domestique in front of him. Although Lü hadn’t been dropped on the climb, he was clearly struggling. Huang Chong sighed inwardly.

’This kind of gap in raw power can’t be closed with just a short period of training together.’

’Still, he’s been racing in China this whole time, and he’s managed to lead me out all the way until now. That’s already quite impressive.’

He put in a few hard pedal strokes, came up alongside Lü Xianjing, and said:

"Lü, at this stage of the race, almost every climb from here on out will be a launchpad for attacks from the GC contenders.

You don’t need to lead me out anymore for the rest of the race. Just find your own rhythm and ride at your own pace.

Try to finish the race smoothly. Don’t burn too much energy!"

As Huang Chong was speaking, Madouas’ attack was successfully neutralized by the peloton.

Apparently, the Slovenia Team, with Tranic, had no intention of letting a strong breakaway rider like Madouas get away easily.

However, though Madouas was caught, a slender figure in a dark green jersey suddenly attacked from the peloton just after they crested the climb and started the descent.