Powless strongest of elite group in Japan Cup and takes second win in traditional season finale

Neilson Powless won the Japan Cup. The American of EF Education—EasyPost was in the strongest group of five in the hilly one-day race. He defeated Ilan Van Wilder ( Soudal Quick-Step) and Matej Mohoric ( Bahrain-Victorious) to take his second win in Japan.

The Japan Cup is a classic finale to the cycling season. The race consists of a ten-kilometer lap completed fourteen times for 140 kilometers. In that lap, the climb to Kogashiyama is the decisive factor: a 4.7-kilometer col at 3.5 percent. Last year, Rui Costa (Intermarché-Wanty) won the Japanese one-day race. He then defeated young German Felix Engelhardt (Jayco AlUla).

From the start, it was an all-out war. Simon Yates, who will swap Jayco AlUla for Visma | Lease a Bike, was active from the beginning, going on the attack solo. Toms Skujins (Lidl-Trek) and Fausto Masnada (Soudal Quick-Step) also made an early course. However, his teammate Mauri Vansevenant created a gap, laying the foundation for the final group that would make it to the finish. Michael Woods (Israel - Premier Tech) was the first to cross, and Powless, Mohoric, and Van Wilder later joined him. So we had a front group of five. They quickly rode away from the rest of the pack: the battle was struck.

Soudal Quick-Step with two, but Powless is super strong

Soudal Quick-Step was, therefore, well-represented in the group that would battle for the win. However, Powless was the strongest on the road: he pressured his breakaway companions several times. It became a tactical game in the final kilometers: Van Wilder was the first to attack, but Woods and Vansevenant also tried. The riders didn't give each other an inch until Powless went all out in the sprint. Nobody had an answer to the acceleration of the American, who had been labeled a favorite beforehand. He lived up to the favorites and triumphed in his last race of the season. Van Wilder bowed his head and finished second, ahead of Matej Mohoric.

Results Japan Cup 2024

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