Chapter 15 The competition begins

The total distance of this race is fifty kilometers, which is considered a longer distance within team races.

This distance poses high demands on the riders' physical distribution, which also means that the main windbreaker's pressure will be immense.

The local cycling circle had also been paying close attention to this competition for quite some time.

Eric's team was one of those with high expectations.

However, after one of their members got injured some days ago, the attention they garnered had diminished significantly.

The hot favorite to win the championship, and the team that attracted the most attention, was led by the tall white youth, Seth.

As for Barber who appeared just now, he did not qualify to participate and was deliberately sticking around for logistical support.

As soon as Seth's team of four made their entrance, they were greeted with cheers from the crowd.

But right after that, many people started discussing.

"How come Bill didn't come? Why did they replace him with this kid?"

"Damn, he still looks like he's in middle school, doesn't he?"

Clearly, Arthur was also a rider decided upon at the last minute to substitute.

This youth cycling race was originally aimed at youths under the age of eighteen.

So naturally, the older you are, the more of an advantage you would have in both physique and experience, and young Arthur apparently seemed too young, so the skepticism expressed by everyone was understandable.

But soon, someone recognized the young rider.

"This seems to be Arthur from Falcon Club, I've seen him before on a poster."

The fierce discussion that was originally taking place quieted down with this remark.

Falcon Club was an absolutely leading local cycling club.

It was teeming with amateur experts and had even produced several professional riders.

And Arthur, having joined Falcon Club at such a young age, was undoubtedly someone trained from an early age.

If he managed to beat some adult amateur experts, no one would find it unusual.

Knowing this news, it was no wonder Seth's team had him substitute in; he was clearly not some little kid, but a powerful external reinforcement.

In contrast, on Eric's team side, although everyone was not very familiar with Li Ang, just by looking at his slender legs, one could roughly deduce his ability.

Moreover, the local impression of Asians had always been far from strong and formidable, and if there hadn't been reporters filming nearby, it's likely that some would have made discriminatory gestures toward him.

If their team had been at full strength, they might have fought for a top three finish, but now, well, not coming in last would be pretty good.

After making an overall deduction, everyone essentially believed that Seth's team had the victory well in their grasp.

Li Ang didn't care about these discussions at all; he had already discussed the plan with his teammates two days prior.

At his insistence, he remained the team's main windbreaker.

"Bang!"

With the starter's pistol fired, the ten teams present all set off in sequence.

Li Ang, at the very front of the team, showcased powerful explosiveness from the beginning, firmly holding onto a spot in the first echelon.

The other three riders also closely followed behind him.

Seth didn't seem to care about this at all, presuming they were aware of the capabilities of this Asian, letting him go all out at the start, leading them as far as he could.

After quickly covering a kilometer, many were surprised to find that Li Ang, at the forefront of the team, showed no signs of dwindling energy; his speed was even increasing.

In fact, Li Ang had already been controlling his speed, fearing his teammates wouldn't be able to keep pace with him.

If that were the case, even if he finished first, the results of the other three wouldn't be great.

As they rode on, most teams had already started to switch their windbreakers, taking turns at breaking the wind, which was indeed the most energy-saving method.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, Li Ang was still at the very front of the team, showing no intention of switching to the back at all.

As the person at the front of the team, he naturally bore the greatest wind resistance, which meant that to maintain the same speed, he had to expend more physical strength.

"Just watch, he won't last another 5 minutes before he has to drop out,"

someone said with absolute certainty.

However, there were those with keen eyes who remarked that Li Ang's posture and movements clearly displayed a high level of skill, indicating he was by no means just making up the numbers.

But obviously, they also couldn't understand why Li Ang wouldn't switch places with his teammates. Having strength was one thing, but it couldn't justify such capriciousness, could it?

On the other hand, Arthur's performance was completely as everyone had expected.

With standard posture and movements, along with outstanding stamina, he raised the average speed of Seth's team by a notch.

It was as if they had discarded a weak link in their team and replaced it with a strong one.

Half an hour had passed, and the race was already more than half done.

Incredibly, Eric's cycling team had taken the lead, and the cyclist at the very front, was still that black-haired, yellow-skinned contestant.

Upon receiving the news, Sheila involuntarily squeezed her legs a little tighter together.

Although she didn't know much about cycling, she understood that to hold the lead in such a competition, one had to be an expert among amateurs.

"Such stamina is really unbearable,"

Sheila secretly thought to herself, her cheeks flushing slightly.

She only knew that Li Ang was exceptionally good in his academic courses; she had no idea he was also so skilled in cycling.

"Could it be that he built up his strength by carrying cargo on that women's bicycle?"

Sheila couldn't help but recall the time she encountered Li Ang on the road some days before.

...

"Still doing okay, Li?"

To be honest, even Eric, as his teammate, was somewhat worried about Li Ang at this point.

He had fully braced himself for Li Ang's physical strength, but even then, his performance went beyond Eric's expectations.

By now, their average speed had reached 42 kilometers per hour.

And Li Ang, acting as the windbreaker, hadn't slowed down at all over the entire half hour, and his pace even seemed to be improving steadily.

At this moment, Little Eric's smile had curved into a hook.

He had never felt so proud and elated. Right then, he had already replaced his brother with Li Ang as the idol in his heart.

If it wasn't for the need to maintain his own breathing, he would have loved to shout out loud to express the excitement in his heart.

"Are you guys okay? If there's no problem, I can pick up the pace a bit more,"

the speaker was Li Ang.

At this speed, it was actually quite a comfortable riding pace for Li Ang at the time.

Fortunately, the weather today was very good, and the wind speed was low; otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to propose increasing the speed further.

"We're fine,"

the first to respond was Little Eric.

The other two also expressed their concurrence one after another.

In fact, such a speed was already their best performance during regular training.

But cycling is also about the state one is in, and with Li Ang, such a fiercely leading windbreaker, they had to keep up whether they felt up to it or not.