Aldag paused when he heard Huang Chong's request to race. He had been working on the lineup for the Ardennes Classics.
Honestly, he was not opposed to Huang Chong volunteering to race. If anything, he was excited.
The reason was simple: the Bora Team's roster this year had been built entirely around general classification in stage races. They had no particularly outstanding weapon for one-day races.
Their shortage of classics specialists was an undeniable fact.
Apart from Huang Chong's two one-day victories at Milan-Turin and Dwars door Vlaanderen, they had not won a single other one-day race.
But the question was how Huang Chong's injury had healed. Had he actually made a full recovery?
That was something Aldag had to consider.
His deep-set eyes fixed on Huang Chong, who had volunteered to race, and he asked bluntly, "Are you sure your injury has completely healed?
"It's only been about half a month since your crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen. This isn't a matter of proving a point.
"Normally, even a minor hairline fracture takes four to six weeks to heal. You've only had two short weeks, Huang!
"Winning races certainly matters, both to you and to the team. But I can't send an injured rider out before he's recovered. Do you understand?"
Huang Chong answered directly, "I don't feel any pain at all anymore, director!
"German orthopedics is world-renowned, isn't it?
"If you're still worried, I can have an X-ray taken here at the team.
"Then we can listen to Charlie, the attending physician. What do you think?"
Aldag fell silent for a while. Finally, he set down the half-finished rider lineup and said gravely, "In that case, let's do it. I'll go with you!
"But let me make this clear first, Huang. If your injury hasn't fully healed, you'll