The Japan Cup is always a fun way to end a season, with 11 loops of a fast, hilly circuit, which never gives the riders time to recover.
Speaking of riders, let's have a look at them!
Rapha Condor bring a strong leader in Jonathan Bellis. It's the first time the team has raced here, but their manager does have form, with Frank Schleck taking victory in 2009 with Accumalux - Formex.
Other dangerous riders include Nicholas Roche (Pirelli), Dimitri Claeys (Bianchi) and Cesare Di Maggio (Venchi). But this being the last race of the season, and the parcours presented, this race could just be a lottery of the right rider being in the right place at the right time.
And last, but by no means least, we have the home favourite and national champion, Yukiya Arashiro (Meiji - Fuji). Yes, he has no chance of getting over the hills with the favourites, but.... no, wait. There are no buts. He won't win the race, but he's already won our hearts.
Spoiler
Rapha Condor
1. J. Bellis
2. C. Anguilet
3. D. Appleby
4. A. Dowsett
5. C. Froome
6. T. Grmay
7. H. Kiprotich
8. T. Teklit
Pirelli
11. N. Roche
12. M. Busche
13. G. Cheula
14. A. DÃaz Corrales
15. M. Iannetti
16. S. Masciarelli
17. E. Murgoitio
18. F. Tizza
Bianchi
21. D. Claeys
22. W. Gustov
23. J. Hochmann
24. G. Lequatre
25. A. Matzbacher
26. F. Odebrecht
27. F. Rabon
28. P. Rooijakkers
Aker Solutions
31. A. Roux
32. J. Castroviejo
33. H. Duenas Nevado
34. R. Guillemois
35. L. Haedo
36. A. Lund
37. J. Rovira
38. E. Viennet
Tinkoff
41. A. Kolobnev
42. P. Brutt
43. V. Efimkin
44. V. Kiryenka
45. S. Kolesnikov
46. D. Kozontchuk
47. E. Petrov
48. I. Rovny
Venchi
51. C. Di Maggio
52. V. Agnoli
53. C. Cominelli
54. M. Corti
55. P. Haugard
56. F. Reda
57. A. Santoro
58. N. Tirloni
Team VW
61. A. Flügel
62. W. Anacona
63. G. Brenes
64. B. Noval
65. K. Predatsch
66. V. Ratiy
67. D. Schorn
68. R. Zabel
WWE
71. J. Pineau
72. M. Astarloza
73. A. Diniz
74. F. Kessiakoff
75. B. Mollema
76. R. Sutherland
77. A. Txurruka
78. M. Vingerling
Focus
81. J. Roy
82. J. Adams
83. D. Beatse
84. J. Debusschere
85. T. Meyer
86. F. Morizot
87. C. Pineau
88. S. Robert
Saab
91. M. Wyss
92. N. Brolin
93. P. Lavery
94. G. Likhaya
95. T. Lövkvist
96. C. Løwenstein
97. A. Nehoray
98. E. Salgueiro
Both Vespa and Tinkoff are here. I hope one of them doesn´t score so i stay inside the Top15.
My guess is Bellis, he´s strong enough to survive the hills and can win the sprint easily.
We've got a pretty strong team here, I hope Duenas Nevado, Rovira or both of them go in the early breakaway or try their luck earlier than the biggest favourites. If it comes down to the favourites, I hope Roux can manage a top 5, though, he can't rely on his sprint.
Bellis is the favourite for me, due to his combination of handling hills and his great sprint.
Hey, setting sprinters aside, my puncheurs #4, #5 and #6 are present here
I chose these races for the star puncheur I desperately wanted to sign in transfer season (hey, as a German team, having Sinkewitz, Kessler and Wegmann as FA's, what else should have been the goal?).
Need a really strong result to clinch that 10th place from Hollister, and VW are still right behind - will be a very tense race to follow for me, though I hope we can end the season on a high note!
Dunno if I want Flügel to do really well and prehaps "save" me into top 10 with a win (haven't done the math if that will really get me into top 10...) or if I want him to not win to keep his contract down :/
My guess is a break and a nightmare race to report - quite a short circuit so riders strewn all over the world. Hope Bosisio is the rider designated to set off at the 60km mark to win it.
Maybe I should have brought in David de la Fuente for this race as he is known for some crazy attacks plus completing them. But I trusted Claeys and Rabon could also do the job forcing a race.
I hope Claeys could end the seasaon for us on the podium, that should be managable.
Team Bianchi - 2012 Man-Game ProContinental Tour Champions
I have been anxious, waiting for this report all day. But with this 11th place I can finally relax because Venchi stayed clear of Puma and are to be found in the upper division in 2013.
Good try by Duenas Nevado, doing exactly what he was told. Disappointing by Roux, but it doesn't really matter, as promotion was the main goal of the race, and I'm pretty sure we did it
Congratulations to Heine, ending the season in style, with wins both here and in Duo Normand.
