The Tour de France criteriums proceed this weekend, with lots of the key names of the French Grand Tour heading to Japan’s Saitama Criterium on Sunday November 5, straight from final weekend’s Prudential Singapore Criterium.
The likes of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Workforce Emirates), Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) will ship one other show, together with Peter Sagan, Mark Cavendish and Chris Froome who’re lining up with the race’s Legends Workforce. Froome, in actual fact, was additionally on the first version of the occasion, crossing the road first on the finish of season celebratory criterium in 2013 after he in July received the primary of his 4 Tour de France titles.
Egan Bernal, who wasn’t in Singapore, can even be becoming a member of the festivities on the outskirts of Tokyo in Japan. The 2019 Tour de France winner can be lining up alongside his Ineos Grenadiers teammates Joshua Tarling and Brandon Rivera.
Former skilled rider, now CPA President, Adam Hansen can even roll in to take a spot within the Legends Workforce. Guillaume Martin can even be lining up with Cofidis after having taken third within the 1.Professional ranked Japan Cup Cycle Highway Race final month.
The criterium is about to play out on a 3.5km circuit on metropolis streets across the Tokyo suburb of Saitama, additionally chopping by a crowd crammed area. There are sharp turns all through, but additionally an extended ending straight for the ultimate dash to unfold on after 17 laps of racing. There’s additionally a time trial earlier than the criterium, run on largely the identical course.
Jasper Philipsen was first over the road on the occasion in 2022, when the criterium returned after two years absence by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Belgian who claimed the inexperienced jersey on the Tour de France additionally claimed the Singapore Prudential Criterium final weekend, forward of Cavendish and Pogačar, although the rider and his Alpecin-Deceuninck group is not going to be in Japan this 12 months. The Lidl-Trek squad led by Ciccone, who raced within the Legends Workforce in Singapore, is subbing in at Saitama as an alternative.
The occasions in Singapore and Tokyo, extra of an exhibition than a race, take a number of the fanfare of the Tour de France past Europe to offer the massive crowds a glimpse of their favorite riders. “You see all the children right here with stars of their eyes,” mentioned Froome.
Photograph alternatives on rickshaws, selfies and autographs have been a giant a part of the occasion in Singapore and that development will proceed by to Tokyo, the place the seven groups crammed with worldwide riders line up alongside seven Japanese groups. A maillot jaune autograph periods, a Cycle Festa, opening ceremony and shutting social gathering are all a part of the agenda.