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The race:
The Japan Cup takes place in late October on the same race course at Utsunomiya, Japan, that was used for the 1990 World Road Championships. As of 2008, it was 10 laps over a 14.1 km selective circuit with an eleventh lap of 10.3 km.
Since 2018 it has been 14 x 10.3 km laps = 144.2 km
The race was designated 1.1 in 2005 and raised to "HC" for 2008.
It is now (2024) rank 1.Pro.
Since 2010 a Japan Cup criterium race (which we do not cover) is held in Utsunomiya the day before the the road race.
Here is the complete Japan Cup podium history.
Year |
1st Place |
2nd Place |
3rd Place |
Distance |
Average Speed |
1992 | Hendrik Redant 5hr 34min 8sec |
Bart Bowen @ s.t. |
Laurent Maduas @ 3min 3sec |
185.4 km | 33.292 |
1993 | Claudio Chiappucci 4hr 16min 58sec |
Beat Zberg @ 3min 41sec |
Dimitri Neliubine @ 3min 43sec |
154km | 35.957 |
1994 | Claudio Chiappucci 4hr 19min 49sec |
Erich Maechler @ 49sec |
Stefano Checchin @ 3min 46sec |
154.5 km | 35.679 |
1995 | Claudio Chiappucci 4hr 13min 8sec |
Stefano Zanini @ s.t. |
Mauro Gianetti @ s.t. |
154 km | 36.502 |
1996 | Mauro Gianetti 4hr 31min 1sec |
Pascal Hervé @ 23sec |
Andrea Peron @ 24sec |
179.5 km | 39.740 |
1997 | Yoshiyuki Abe 4hr 4min 9sec |
Andrea Tafi @ s.t. |
Mauro Gianetti @ s.t. |
151.3 km | 37.182 |
1998 | Fabian De Waele 4hr 6min 52sec |
Daniele Nardello @ s.t. |
José Luis Rubiera @ s.t. |
151.3 km | 36.772 |
1999 | Sergio Barbero 4hr 10min 43sec |
Mirko Celestino @ 1sec |
Sébastien Demarbaix @ 6sec |
151.3 km | 36.208 |
2000 | Massimo Codol 4hr 16min 34sec |
Gabriele Missaglia @ 1sec |
Marco Sepellini @ 1min 11sec |
151.3 km | 35.382 |
2001 | Gilberto Simoni 4hr 16min 58sec |
Cadel Evans @ 51sec |
Christophe Brandt @ s.t. |
151.3 km | 35.327 |
2002 | Sergio Barbero 4hr 3min 29sec |
Igor Astarloa @ s.t. |
Fabio Sacchi @ 18sec |
151.3 km | 37.283 |
2003 | Sergio Barbero 4hr 3min 56sec |
Patrik Sinkewitz @ s.t. |
Guido Trentin @ 2sec |
151.3 km | 37.215 |
2004 | Patrik Sinkewitz 4hr 1min 30sec |
Damiano Cunego @ 1sec |
Manuel Quinziato @ 44sec |
151.3 km | 37.590 |
2005 | Damiano Cunego 4hr 5min 56sec |
Francisco Mancebo @ 3sec |
Cristian Moreni @ 27sec |
151.3km | 36.912 |
2006 | Riccardo Riccò 3hr 58min 18sec |
Ruggero Marzoli @ s.t. |
Vladimir Gusev @ s.t. |
151.3 km | 38.094 |
2007 | Manuele Mori 4hr 9min 58sec |
Fabian Wegmann @ 6sec |
Francesco Gavazzi @ s.t. |
151.3 km | 36.316 |
2008 | Damiano Cunego 4hr 4min 57sec |
Giovanni Visconti @ s.t. |
Ivan Basso @ s.t. |
151.3 km | 37.06 |
2009 | Chris Anker Sorensen 4hr 6min 19sec |
Daniel Moreno @ 24sec |
Ivan Santaromita @ s.t. |
151.3 km | 36.865 |
2010 | Daniel Martin 4hr 2min 28sec |
Peter McDonald @ 57sec |
Yusuke Hatanaka @ s.t. |
151.3 km | 37.44 |
2011 | Nathan Haas 4hr 8min 35sec |
Taiji Nishitani @ s.t. | Junya Sano @ s.t. |
151.3 km | 36.52 |
2012 | Ivan Basso 4hr 1min 58sec |
Daniel Martin @ s.t. |
Rafal Majka @ s.t. |
151.3 km | 37.52 |
2013 | Michael Rogers 4hr 25min 0sec |
Jack Bauer @ 44sec |
Damiano Cunego @ s.t. |
151.3 km | 34.25 |
2014 | Nathan Haas 4hr 6min 48sec |
Edvald Boasson Hagen @ s.t. |
Grega Bole @ s.t. |
151.3 km | 36.783 |
2015 | Bauke Mollema 3hr 54min 40sec |
Diego Ulissi @ s.t. |
Yukiya Arashiro @ s.t. |
144.2 km | 36.869 |
2016 | Davide Villella 3hr 46min 4sec |
Christopher Juul Jensen @ 6sec |
Robert Power @ 14sec |
144.2 km | 38.2 km/hr |
2017 | Marco Canola 2hr 45min 37sec |
Benjamin Prades @ s.t. |
Amezawa Takeaki @ s.t. |
103 km | 37.315 km/hr |
2018 | Robert Power 3hr 44min 0sec |
Antwan Tolhoek @ s.t. |
Matti Breschel @ 40sec |
144.2 km | 38.625 km/hr |
2019 | Bauke Mollema 3hr 41min 13sec |
Michael Woods @ 1sec |
Dion Smith @ 44sec |
144.2 km | 39.111 km/hr |
2020- 2021 |
Race not run because of Covid-19 pandemic | ||||
2022 | Neilson Powless 3hr 37min 49sec |
Andrea Piccolo @ 12sec |
Benjamin Dyball @ 13sec |
144.2 km | 39.722 km/hr |
2023 | Rui Costa 3hr 28min 22sec |
Felix Engelhardt @ s.t. |
Guillaume Martin @ 2sec |
133.9 km | 38.557 km/hr |
2024 | Neilson Powless 3hr 33min 30sec |
Ilan Van Wilder @ s.t. |
Matej Mohjoric @ s.t. |
144.2 km | 40.525 km/hr |
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