Il Lombardia, could also be referred to as the race that indicators the tip of the season, however the closing stragglers are nonetheless unfolding with Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep), Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech), Rui Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) amongst these selecting to finish their season on the Japan Cup.
The Japan Cup and Veneto Basic in Italy will shut out the lads’s ProSeries racing for the 12 months on Sunday as the ultimate WorldTour race, the Tour of Guangxi continues to unfold in China. The 164.8 km street race which begins and finishes in Utsunomiya, rus over 16 laps of a ten.3km course with the repeated Mt Kogashi climb a giant contributor to the roughly 3,000m of elevation achieve.
Final 12 months the occasion was gained by Neilson Powless, who escaped solo whereas EF Schooling-EasyPost teammate Andrea Piccolo came visiting the road in second. Powless, who wrapped up his season in Canada final month, won’t be defending the title however Piccolo will probably be on deck for the US-based workforce together with James Shaw, one other sturdy performer on the race final 12 months.
2019 winner Bauke Mollema can even be on the beginning line alongside his Lidl-Trek teammate Ciccone, whereas Maxim van Gils – who got here fifth final 12 months – will probably be lining up for Lotto-Soudal after coming 14th at Il Lombardia. That was one spot forward of Costa, with thirteenth being the Intermarché-Circus-Wanty rider’s finest outcome up to now on the Monument and delivering a continuation of the sturdy late season kind that took him to victory on stage 15 of the Vuelta a España and which he hopes will proceed by to his closing race in Japan.
Alaphilippe can also be making the journey after having raced Il Lombardia final weekend, together with his first look on the Japanese race closing off a difficult season. Fausto Masnada, who got here twentieth at Il Lombardia after taking fifth at Coppa Bernocchi can also be part of the workforce’s lineup. Then there may be Ilan Van Wilder who’s sure to be among the many watched riders within the subject after his canny race-winning assault at Tre Valli Varesine earlier this month. The workforce hopes that momentum from Italy will maintain it in good stead in Japan.
“For positive, the motivation is there and we’ll attempt to do our greatest,” stated Soudal-QuickStep sports activities director Davide Bramati in a press release. “A number of the guys come right here after a stable outing within the Italian one-day races, and are motivated to carry the season to a conclusion with a powerful trip and a pleasant outcome.”
Different riders among the many seven WorldTour groups and three ProTeams on the race embrace Riley Sheehan who will probably be lining up alongside Israel-Premier Tech teammate Froome recent from his first-ever profession victory at Paris-Excursions. Eddie Dunbar and Lucas Hamilton will probably be there for Jayco-AlUla whereas Bahrain-Victorious will probably be fielding home-nation rider Yukiya Arashiro, lining up on the race for his eleventh time.
There can even be a 37.5km criterium on Saturday to kick off the racing earlier than the one-day street occasion on Sunday, which was first run in 1992. It will likely be the thirtieth version of the Japan Cup this 12 months, with the COVID-19 pandemic inflicting cancellations in 2020 and 2021.