This Sunday will be the 31st edition of the Japan Cupusual end-of-season classic set in Japan. Moved to category 1.Pro since 2022, more and more WorldTour teams find themselves at the start of the Japanese race. This year, seven WT groups are traveling to the Land of the Rising Sun (EF Education-Easy Post, Jayco-AlUla, Cofidis, Lidl-Trek, Astana Qazaqstan, Soudal Quick-Step et Bahrain-Victorious). The route remains classic with 144 kilometers and a hilly route around the town of Utsunomiya.
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Simon Yates, Nelson Powless, Mads Pedersen… Read favorites!
It is difficult to identify a big favorite for this 31st edition of the Japan Cup. Without the fantastic ones, the race looks open and many runners can hope to raise their arms on Sunday. But there is one who has already done it, Nelson Powless (EF Education-Easy Post). The American won here in 2022 and likes hilly courses. Very often offensive, the panache of Powless could pay off in a race where the favorites risk quickly losing their teammates.
Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla) is also one of the favorites, who could very well let go of his opponents in the ascent of Mount Kogashi. But many punchers will be present, including Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious) or even Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step). La Lidl-Trek will be able to count on two cards with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) in the event of a group arrival and with Tom Skujinauthor of an exceptional year 2024.
Career and profile
Sunday October 20 – Utsunomiya – Utsunomiya 144 km (14 tours of 10.3 km)
The starting list
TEAM JAYCO-ALULA
1 YATES Simon
2 CRADDOCK Lawson
3 ENGELHARDT Felix
4 MACKELLAR Alexander
5 PEÑA Jesus David
6 SCHMID Mauro
ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM
11 MULUBRHAN Henok
12 SMIRNOV Ivan
13 GRUZDEV Dmitriy
14 KUZMIN Anton
16 GAROFOLI Gianmarco
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS
21 ARASHIRO Yukiya
22 MOHORIC Matthew
23 BURATTI Nicolò
24 PASQUALON Andrea
25 SÜTTERLIN Jasha
26 ZAMBANINI Edoardo
you trust
31 ZINGLE Axel
32 COPPENS Michiel
33 MAHOUDO Nolann
34 PEREZ Anthony
35 TOUMIRE Hugo
36 WOOD Harrison
EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST
41 POWLESS Neilson
42 HUNGER Gavin
43 STEINHAUSER Georg
44 NERURKAR Lukas
45 TODOME Yuhi
46 RYAN Archie
LIDL-TREK
51 PEDERSEN Mads
52 BAGIOLI Andrea
53 BERNARD Julien
54 VERONA Carlos
55 SKUJIN Tom
56 FELLINE Fabio
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP
61 LAMPAERT Yves
62 MASNADA Fausto
63 SERRY Pieter
64 MUSHROOMS Antoine
65 FROM WILDER Ilan
66 VANSEVENANT Moors
ISRAEL-PREMIER TECH
71 WOODS Michael
72 BIRD SONG Jakob
73 CÔTÉ Pier-André
74 GILMORE Brady
75 FAVORS Dylan
76 WÜRTZ SCHMIDT Mads
LOTTERY DSTNY
81 ADAMIETZ Johannes
83 CURRIE Logan
84 VANDENABEELE Henri
85 DONIE Milan
86 eeman kamiel
TEAM NOVO NORDISK
91 BEADLE Hamish
92 BRAND Sam
93 DE GRAEVE Quinten
94 MULLER Anton
95 LOZANO David
96 POL Umberto
LJUBLJANA LIKES SANTIC
101 TOMSIC And Andrej
102 HOPKINS Dylan
103 LI Ting Wei
104 POTOCKI Viktor
105 SAMPSON Andy
106 STAINAR Mihael
AISAN RACING TEAM
111 OKAMOTO Hayato
112 NISHIO Keito
113 KUSABA Keigo
114 TOBARU Hayato
115 ISHIGAMI Masahiro
116 HATSUKAWA Kohiro
JCL TEAM UKYO
121 KOISHI Yuma
122 YAMAMOTO Masaki
123 MASUDA Nariyuki
124 EARLE Nathan
125 PESENTI Thomas
126 OKA Atsushi
KINAN RACING TEAM
131 HATANAKA Yusuke
132 MOREY Drew
133 YAMAMOTO Genki
134 ARASHIRO Yudai
135 MAGOSAKI Daiki
136 YUNOKI Shingen
MATRIX POWERTAG
141 MANCEBO Francisco
142 TORIBIO Jose Vicente
143 AGROTIS Alexandros
144 YASUHARA Daiki
145 KOBAYASHI Marino
146 ODA Hijiri
SHIMANO RACING
151 NAKAI Tadaaki
152 ISHIHARA Yuki
153 TERADA Yoshiki
154 YAMADA Takumi
155 IRIBE Shotaro
156 KAZAMA Shoma
UTSUNOMIYA BLITZEN
161 SAWADA Toki
162 TANI Junsei
163 SIERRA Yecid
164 ACOSTA Ruben
165 FENG Chun Kai
166 HANADA Kiyomasa
VICTORY HIROSHIMA
171 DYBALL Benjamin
172 QUINTERO Leonel
173 SHIBATA Masayuki
174 KUBOTA Yusuke
175 NAKAMURA Keisuke
176 CASTILLO Jose
JAPAN
181 KANEKO Sohei
182 TSUDA Yugi
183 HASHIKAWA Jo
184 MORITA War
185 WATANABE Ikki
186 HAYASHIBARA Shoma
