He found that he wasn't actually satisfied with this outcome.
As an athlete, while a "championship-or-bust" mentality was certainly wrong, it was impossible to succeed without the heart of a champion.
This race, in particular, had made him keenly aware that a considerable gap still existed between him and a World Tour Cyclist.
This silver medal from the Asian Championships was indeed priceless for the country.
But for him, personally, it wasn't a particularly precious achievement.
At the very least, this medal wasn't going to get him an offer from a top-tier road cycling team.
At best, it would merely make the managers of top teams aware that there was a new cyclist from China who wasn't half bad.
So Coach Han hadn't been wrong about the Tour of Qinghai being important.
He knew that in the upcoming Pro Level multi-day race, he had to perform even better than he had at the Asian Championships.
Only then could he truly capture the attention of the world's top-tier teams.
...
