Most new riders on Continental teams signed their first contracts one year at a time, and Huang Chong was naturally no exception.
But he had chosen not to sign a long-term contract not because the team feared fluctuations in his form or considered him a risk.
It had been Huang Chong's own decision.
A short-term contract definitely offered more freedom.
Besides, he had enough confidence in his own abilities and higher career ambitions. There was no way he would sign a long-term deal with a Continental team right from the start and simply coast.
Even if, by the end of this year, his level failed to reach UCI WorldTour standard, he would still have the confidence to renew with a Continental team next year.
That definitely would not be a problem.
As long as his level did not decline noticeably, he could basically crush everyone in the domestic league.
Training time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was already mid-March.
There was only one day left until the first stop of the domestic league: Mangshi, Yunnan.
After nearly two and a half months of intensive training, Huang Chong's FTP had risen by around ten watts, reaching 365W.
Just as he had expected, under normal training intensity, relying on natural athletic improvement became slower and slower as his level rose.
Ten watts might not sound like much, but he had achieved it only by grinding HC-category climbs every day during these two and a half months of training in Mangshi.
If he had trained only on flat roads, even riding 300 kilometers of Zone 2 endurance work every day, he probably would have struggled to raise his FTP by ten watts in that time.
The fundamental reason was that domestic road infrastructure, built to meet national standards,