October 13.
Only two days remained before the Tour of Guangxi officially began.
By now, all the major teams had arrived in Guangxi and begun their pre-race training.
For a UCI WorldTour event, the Tour of Guangxi was relatively less valued by major teams when it came to competing for results.
Perhaps only the development riders sent by their teams to gain experience would go all out.
After all, participating in an event of this highest level was the best opportunity for them to earn a full contract or find a job.
For any development rider, winning even a single stage at the Tour of Guangxi would be a tremendous reward for the trip.
A newcomer always needed some eye-catching results to make a name for himself.
Huang Chong was the defending champion of the previous Tour of Guangxi. At the time, he had only been a rider on a continental team. He had relied on a national team invitation to snatch a stage win on Nongla Mountain, which immediately won him attention and contract offers from multiple UCI WorldTour teams.
It could be said that without the Tour of Guangxi giving him a stage to showcase himself, getting into the UCI WorldTour would certainly have taken much more effort.
Now, one year later, he had returned to Guangxi to race again.
For predictions of this race's champion, neither the media nor bookmakers needed to bet on anyone else.
Huang Chong was the undisputed favorite to win.
His odds were frighteningly low, only 1:1.2.
In other words, if someone bet one yuan on Huang Chong to win, they would ultimately earn only twenty cents.
Of course, for domestic cycling fans, gambling had become secondary. Compared with making that tiny bit of pocket money, having the chance to witness Huang Chong