Recaps

Huang Chong used the Cycling Optimization System and intense training to improve his fitness while pursuing his goal of becoming a professional cyclist. After impressing Zhang Yi on the climb to Prince Peak, Huang Chong joined the Headwind Cycling Team and began planning to gain race experience.

• Huang Chong activated the Cycling Optimization System, passed its Newbie Test, and spent his first optimization points improving his Functional Threshold Power.
• Huang Chong lost weight, improved his endurance with the Heart-Lung Strengthening Pill, and trained with Du Wei before deciding to focus on becoming a professional rider.
• Huang Chong joined a 100-kilometer group ride, led the riders for 50 kilometers, and accepted an invitation from Wang Qiang, Liu Junjie, and Chen Guangming to join their team.
• Huang Chong completed the system’s plank task, took the Ab Enhancer, and drove to meet Headwind Cycling Team before dawn for a ride toward Prince Peak.
• Huang Chong kept pace with the team on the long climb, then joined Zhang Yi at the front as they pulled away from the other riders on a steep section.
• Zhang Yi reached Prince Peak slightly before Huang Chong, praised his climbing ability, and welcomed him to Headwind Cycling Team.
• Zhang Yi explained the team’s rules and added Huang Chong to its WeChat group, while the other riders were stunned to learn how closely Huang Chong had climbed with the captain.

Huang Chong built his handling skills and fitness, then won Zhou Ming’s race and drew the attention of the Headwind Cycling Team. After Zhang Yi tested his abilities and encouraged him to pursue professional cycling, Huang Chong sent him the results of a cardiopulmonary test that left him visibly shaken.

• Huang Chong completed the Prince Peak climb and descent, improved his FTP, and discovered that the system had raised his cornering ability and reaction speed.
• Huang Chong learned five beginner mountain-bike techniques, improved his fitness, and accepted Zhou Ming’s challenge to race at Qiandao Lake.
• Huang Chong helped Du Wei through the early part of the race, caught Zhou Ming’s group, and beat Zhou Ming at the finish by about a bike length.
• Zhou Ming paid Huang Chong the championship prize, while Huang Chong’s FTP rose and he led the Headwind Cycling Team through a fast, exhausting training ride.
• Zhang Yi reviewed Huang Chong’s ride data, invited him to the Taihu Lake race, and decided to test his ability in person.
• Huang Chong refused Zhou Ming’s offer to arrange a municipal-team place, chose to remain with the Headwind Cycling Team, and agreed to face Zhou Ming in Suzhou.
• Huang Chong stayed with Zhang Yi at high speed for twenty minutes, then completed a 100-kilometer ride alongside him, convincing Zhang Yi that he could reach the professional level.
• Zhang Yi explained the path to becoming a professional rider and advised Huang Chong to take a cardiopulmonary test, then studied Huang Chong’s results with trembling hands.

Huang Chong joined the provincial team, trained under Chen Junyi, and won gold in both the Provincial Games time trial and road race. His results put the existing team roster under threat as the riders began internal selection.

• Zhang Yi showed Zhang Guowei Huang Chong’s remarkable test results, and Zhang Guowei decided to watch Huang Chong race before offering him a reserve place on the provincial team.
• Huang Chong won the Suzhou race after Zhang Yi slowed near the finish to let him cross first, then agreed to register as a professional cyclist and complete the provincial team’s tests.
• Huang Chong joined the Cycling Sports Management Center, where Chen Junyi assessed his time-trial skills and prepared a training and nutrition program that improved his fitness and power.
• Huang Chong won the Provincial Games 30-kilometer time trial by more than three minutes, earning gold and surprising competitors with his speed in the rain.
• Huang Chong followed Wang Bao’s attack in the road race, dropped him on a climb, and won his second gold medal, and his results alarmed the provincial team’s established riders.
• Huang Chong received paperwork for his gold-medal bonus and National Level 1 cyclist status, then returned from a day off to prepare for the team selection.
• Huang Chong set the leading time in the 20-kilometer selection time trial, and Wang Bao followed his advice to finish second as newcomers dominated the standings.

Huang Chong won national titles, joined Hengxiang, and established himself as a rising professional with dominant performances in domestic races. After taking the professional league lead, he entered the Asian Championships and reached the final fifty kilometers alongside Kazakhstan’s Gaierbo and Yevgeny.

• Huang Chong won the national individual time trial and road race titles, then chose Hengxiang Continental Team and signed his transfer contract with Chen Junyi joining as his data analyst and nutritionist.
• Huang Chong trained with Hengxiang and helped Xiao Ma win a city-circuit stage before claiming the time trial and road race victories at the season’s opening event.
• Director Han invited Huang Chong to the national team for the Asian Championships and assigned him to the professional league’s first three rounds.
• Huang Chong and Peng Yuantang worked together to win the first professional league stage, and Huang Chong won the Luoning stage to defend his overall lead.
• Huang Chong traveled with the national team to Thailand, where Kazakhstan’s Yevgeniy Fedorov won the time trial and Sun Jiajun secured China an Olympic qualification slot in the women’s road race.
• During the men’s road race, Kazakhstan’s attacks dropped Little Ma, Xue Ming, and later Shinya Arashiro, leaving Huang Chong with Gaierbo and Yevgeny as they entered the final fifty kilometers.