Reborn in 2022, Cycling Optimization System

July 13, 2022, Tour de France Stage 11.

Jumbo–Visma Team's Jonas Vingegaard, working with teammate Primož Roglič, launched several rounds of attacks to wear down UAE Team Emirates' Tadej Pogačar. Finally, on the Col du Granon before the finish, he dropped Pogačar and rode solo to victory, pulling on the yellow jersey for the first time in his career.

At the same time, he went from trailing by 37 seconds before the stage to overtaking his rival in the general classification, taking a lead of 2 minutes and 22 seconds!

Hangzhou, Flying Speed Bicycle Boutique.

Du Wei, the bike shop owner, had just finished watching the livestream. Seeing his idol suffer a complete collapse, he felt as though the sky had fallen.

"Old Huang, it's over!! Pogačar got torn apart by those Jumbo guys. He lost more than two minutes in a single stage—do you think he can still come back?"

Huang Chong was a little dazed when he heard Du Wei's question and saw the anger on his face.

2022?

Tour de France Stage 11?

What the hell?

As far as he knew, even the 2025 Tour de France had already ended!

"Have I—been reborn?"

Huang Chong looked around and surveyed his surroundings. Finding himself in a bicycle shop rather than his hometown in the county seat, he confirmed the fact.

He knew this shop all too well. It belonged to one of his college classmates, and after graduating, he had worked here as a mechanic's assistant.

But he remembered that he had only lasted half a year. His parents thought that, as a university graduate, he was just wasting his time at the job, so they called him home to take over the family convenience store.

After that, he had been a shop owner while cycling on the side, living a rather comfortable life.

Unfortunately, during his most recent downhill run on the winding mountain road back home, a car that had not honked suddenly emerged from a blind U-turn. To avoid it, he and his bike had shot off the shoulder and plunged off the cliff.

The drop had been nearly a hundred meters. The outcome was easy to imagine.

Fortunately, heaven had actually given him another life.

"Old Huang, are you even listening? Pogačar got blown up!! He's more than two minutes behind Vingegaard in the general classification now!!"

Du Wei was visibly agitated, but Huang Chong, who already knew the history of the race, remained perfectly calm. He nodded and said, "I know. If you're asking for my opinion, Pogačar can't come back—not even in next year's Tour de France. His chances of winning aren't high!"

"What? Are you joking? Do you even know what you're saying?"

Du Wei was utterly shocked by Huang Chong's remarks, and even a little angry.

He was a die-hard Pogačar fan. Pogačar had just won the 2020 and 2021 Tours de France, and was sweeping through top-tier road races of every kind with seemingly invincible form. Yet his friend was saying that he would lose the Tour de France, the highest honor in cycling, two years in a row?

What kind of ridiculous take was that?

"My reasoning is simple. Jumbo–Visma's lineup is too strong, and they're a tactical team. With so many elite riders working together strategically, how could they lose?" Huang Chong spoke with complete confidence, as though he had the whole race mapped out. "Take the stage just now, for example. They clearly sent Roglič and Vingegaard out as dual leaders to pull Pogačar apart and wear him down separately. Pogačar could only scramble to respond, which eventually caused him to crack.

"And in the races to come, they can send an all-round domestique like Wout van Aert into breakaways, then have him wait at key points to support Vingegaard, pulling off an aerial refueling tactic.

"But what does UAE have? Other than relying on Pogačar to fight it out alone, they can do nothing.

"They have neither tactical plans nor strong enough domestiques to execute them. Losing the Tour de France is inevitable!"

As soon as Huang Chong finished speaking, Du Wei unconsciously frowned.

Something was off. Very off!

His classmate had only entered the cycling scene a month ago. He had only started watching road races with this Tour de France, and had seen just ten stages in total. How could he analyze road-racing tactics so thoroughly?

What was even more outrageous was that the more Du Wei thought about it, the more he felt Huang Chong's analysis was entirely logical, with every word hitting the key point. Could the race really unfold the way Huang Chong had said?

Could this guy be a natural-born team manager and tactical mastermind?

Du Wei found the thought absurd.

Driven by his extreme devotion to his idol, he was unwilling to admit that Huang Chong was right. He stubbornly said, "You're just talking nonsense. I believe Pogačar will definitely come back!"

Huang Chong could only spread his hands.

You really couldn't wake someone pretending to be asleep.

"Forget about whether they win or lose. Just imagine if I could be like them—dominating the world's top three Grand Tours and five Monuments. Wouldn't that be amazing?"

Huang Chong narrowed his eyes as he watched Vingegaard being interviewed on the computer screen after winning the stage. His expression was filled with longing and fierce determination.

He himself was a fervent cycling enthusiast. Though he had started late, during his years as a convenience store owner, he had gone out riding almost every day.

He enjoyed the lightning-fast sensation of descending at full speed. He also enjoyed the feeling of transformation after conquering each mountain, after giving everything he had and continuously surpassing his own limits.

Cycling had given his life a kind of excitement and meaning beyond the ordinary.

Even on rainy days and in the depths of winter, when others put their bikes away, he would ride indoors on the trainer. He strictly followed the tutorials on cycling apps, training professionally and improving himself, all so he could participate in domestic cycling races and cycling events.

It could be said that in his previous life as a cyclist, he had collected a whole stack of commemorative medals from events open to amateur riders.

Of course, if anyone asked what his greatest ambition in life was, it was undoubtedly to become a world-class professional rider—to fly through the major UCI WorldTour races organized by the UCI, competing head-on with the world's best riders and settling who was stronger.

And if he could go even further, he wanted to be like Colombia's legendary rider, El Chapo Quintana, winning Grand Tour stages and blazing a trail for his entire country in road cycling.

But Du Wei laughed and teased him, "Old Huang, it's fine to have dreams, but don't get carried away.

"Forget about being a leader in the three Grand Tours and dominating the field. In our country, we can't even produce a rider who can go to a Grand Tour just to hand out water bottles.

"You can ride for fun, but don't take it too seriously."

Naturally, Huang Chong could not agree with such defeatist talk.

He admitted that his talent was limited, and he knew how large the gap was between Chinese cycling and European riders. But if he did not even dare to dream, how was he any different from a salted fish?

Before he could refute Du Wei, a mocking voice came from beside him.

"Kid, you've barely ridden for a few days, but you sure talk big. The three Grand Tours, the five Monuments? Has your average speed over a hundred kilometers even hit 30? And you're already bragging?"

The speaker was dressed head to toe in luxury brands, even wearing a Gucci belt. One look was enough to tell he was a rich guy.

Huang Chong knew him. His name was Zhou Ming, the leader of an amateur cycling group in Hangzhou. The guy rotated through high-end road bikes worth hundreds of thousands every day—Pinarello, Trek, Colnago, and more. He had been riding for a long time, and his ability was genuinely decent. At the very least, he could get close to a 30-kilometer-per-hour average over one hundred kilometers.

He had come to the shop today to pick up a new Canyon Aeroad CFR that Du Wei had assembled for him—the same bike ridden by Alpecin–Deceuninck's Van der Poel. Huang Chong had even been responsible for assembling the wheelset.

Huang Chong and Du Wei often mocked each other, but that was just banter between classmates. Being ridiculed by an outsider for no reason left a bad taste in his mouth.

The man had no ambitions of his own, yet he dared mock others?

Huang Chong shot back without mercy. "A newbie like me definitely can't compare to a big pro like Captain Zhou. I don't have high-end bikes to rotate through every day like you do, or female cycling friends to rotate through either—but since you've ridden for so long, you must know how to raise your average speed to 30 sooner, right? Would Captain Zhou be willing to give me a few pointers, so a newbie like me can avoid some detours?"

Zhou Ming found Huang Chong's words strange and unpleasant, but since Huang Chong was asking for advice, refusing to offer any would make him seem guilty. So he stiffly replied, "What's so hard about that? If you're weak, train more. Ride a hundred kilometers every day and keep improving your weaknesses. Your level will naturally rise!"

With that, he swung one leg over his new ride and left.

"That bastard really knows how to piss people off!"

Du Wei's family was well-off. Otherwise, he could not have opened such a high-end bicycle boutique. But compared with the son of a conglomerate like Zhou Ming, the gap was obvious. He only dared badmouth the man behind his back, lest he hurt his own business.

He patted Huang Chong on the shoulder and comforted him. "Old Huang, don't take it to heart. That guy is just a rich poser. Those cycling girls are after his money, not his ability. I rode Around Qiandao Lake with him last year, and his actual level wasn't anything special!"

However, Huang Chong paid no attention to Du Wei's consolation. Instead, he stared intently ahead at the virtual panel that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere when Zhou Ming had offered him advice:

[Detected that someone has advised the host to optimize his weaknesses. Keyword triggered. Cycling Optimization System binding initiated.]

[Even a nobody can harbor grand aspirations. By optimizing your weaknesses, you can reach the pinnacle of the world.]

[Accept the beginner's test to officially activate the system?]