Preview Japan Cup 2024 | Who grabs nice win on challenging lap at the last minute?

The Japan Cup has been on the calendar since 1992 and is annually among the last races of the season. The list of winners makes it more than clear that you must be able to climb pretty well if you don't want to make a mistake in the race. Among others, former top Italian climbers Gilberto Simoni and Damiano Cunego are on the list of winners, as is their controversial compatriot Ricardo Ricco. In 2015 and 2019, the Dutch succeeded with Bauke Mollema.

After Mollema's wins, the Japan Cup was removed from the calendar for two years due to the coronavirus outbreak. The race returned to the calendar two years ago, and there was finally a successor to Mollema, American Neilson Powless. Last year, the victory went to the experienced and cunning Portuguese Rui Costa. He convincingly dealt with Felix Engelhardt and Guillaume Martin in the final kilometer.

2023 Rui Costa
2022 Neilson Powless
2021 Course not run
2020 Course not run
2019 Bauke Mollema
2018 Robert Power
2017 Marco Canola
2016 Davide Villella
2015 Bauke Mollema
2014 Nathan Haas

The race will be held in the Japanese city of Utsunomiya, about 100 kilometers north of Tokyo. It starts at the foot of the Kogashiyama climb (1.4 km at 6.8) and consists of a 10.3-kilometer city route. The riders will complete this lap 14 times. So, the riders must tackle the Kogashiyama fourteen times, which will undoubtedly sneak up on the riders' legs.

The approach to the slope (about four kilometers) runs false flat uphill, around two to three percent. The average of 6.8 percent gives a misleading picture. The last kilometer is much more challenging, with an average of over eight percent. In the last five hundred meters, the road ascends at more than nine percent, an ideal point to sort out the peloton or place a decisive attack. After the last passage of the climb, there is a few kilometers of descent, after which it is still just under ten kilometers after the finish. The final kilometers have some uphill and downhill sections, providing opportunities for a late breakaway.

Weather
Sunday will provide beautiful conditions for a race. The temperature will rise to 19 degrees, and the sun will shine brightly in the afternoon. Furthermore, it will remain dry, and the wind will be at wind force three from the northeast.

Times
Start time: 09:00 pm (Saturday, October 19, 2024)
Finish time: 1:10 am (Sunday, October 20, 2024)

Former winner Neilson Powless heads to Japan with confidence. After a difficult first part of the season, the EF Education-EasyPost rider has been in tip-top shape in recent weeks. He recently won the Gran Piemonte after a fine solo. Shortly after, he reached a respectable eighth place on the Tour of Lombardy. His Irish teammate Archie Ryan has also been doing exceptionally well lately. With fast hill rider Lukas Nerurkar, Jonathan Vaughters' team has a third asset. Moreover, the young Briton is already well-acclimated. For example, he recently finished second in the Tour de Kyushu. Something can also be expected from Giro's revelation of Georg Steinhauser.

Lidl-Trek is taking the Japanese race seriously and is sending Mads Pedersen, among others. The mighty Dane should be able to handle the challenging course, and he is by far the fastest in the field. However, the supermarket team can also utilize Latvian Toms Skujins, who impressed with fourth place at the World Championships. Puncher Andrea Bagioli is also in the race on behalf of Lidl-Trek. On behalf of Israel-Premier Tech, 'oldies' Michael Woods and Jakob Fuglsang should cut. Especially from the first, we expect a crushing attack uphill.

Soudal-Quick Step has two Belgian favorites: Mauri Vansevenant and Ilan Van Wilder. The first has an advantage in one-day racing, but Van Wilder has the necessary explosiveness to accomplish something. Another excellent pair is Jayco AlUla, which consists of Simon Yates and Mauro Schmid. The first must go on the offensive, while the second can wait longer and strike in the sprint.

Future Visma | Lease a Bike rider Axel Zingle (Cofidis) will rub his hands together when seeing the route. If he is still there at the end - which is all but possible - the opposition should be frightened by his final shot. Matej Mohoric is a big name at Bahrain Victorious. That the Slovenian master attacker faces the long journey to Japan makes us think he is up for it; after all, he only won twice this year. His Italian teammate Edoardo Zambanini is a dangerous outsider as he is in good shape and has a nice uphill sprint.

Top favorites: Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Mads Pedersen and Toms Skujins (both Lidl-Trek)
Outsiders: Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal-Quick Step), Axel Zingle (Cofidis), Simon Yates Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), Archie Ryan, Georg Steinhauser (both EF Education-EasyPost) and Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech)
Longshots: Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious), Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-Quick Step), Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek), Lukas Nerurkar (EF Education-EasyPost) and Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech)

Unfortunately, the Japan Cup is unavailable live on television or on a stream. However, you will find a match report on our site on Sunday morning.