“THE ROAD RACE TOKYO TAMA 2023” men’s race is 72.6km. After running a loop of approximately 20km in Hachioji City, it will pass through Tama City, Inagi City, and Fuchu City before finishing at Ajinomoto Stadium in Chofu City. There are no steep climbs that would make it a clear winner, and although there are repeated short climbs and descents, it becomes a downhill trend towards the finish, so combined with the short distance, even if there is a group in front, they all come together as one at the end. That was expected.
It was still cold in Hachioji City on this day, with the temperature still below 10 degrees Celsius even at 9 a.m., the start time. Nana Takagi, a former Winter Olympics speed skating representative who led the parade as a guest rider, said on stage before the start, “Even though I’m from Hokkaido, I hated the cold weather in Hachioji.” Despite the cold early morning, many spectators gathered at Fujimori Park to see off the start.
After a parade run of about 6km, the real start was made, and Motoyoshi Yamamoto (Kinan Racing Team) picked up the pace, stretching the group out for a long time, and the battle of attacks began. At the end of the lap section, a group of about 10 people tried to take the lead, but they were unable to rotate properly and the main group, which maintained high speed, absorbed them. Even after leaving the lap area, the attack battle continues, and the situation continues where running away is not acceptable.
After about 30km, the race entered a neutral section. Since there is no median strip and traffic is restricted to only one lane, a section was created where the speed of traffic is 30km/h to ensure safety. When the race resumes after the neutral section, the attack battle begins again. As we approached Tama City, two riders, Naoki Kojima (Team Bridgestone Cycling) and Daiki Yamamoto (JCL Team Ukyo), broke out and took the lead. Although there was a 10 to 15 second difference between them and the main group, they continued to move at a distance where they could see each other.
As Kojima said, the two riders in front continued to take turns in the lead without being held back, saying, “We didn’t exchange words, but I could tell by the way Yamamoto ran that he was planning on running away.” However, with less than 14km remaining, an accident occurred at the corner just before heading to Koremasa Bridge, which crosses the Tama River. Daiki Yamamoto collided with the fence at the corner and fell, causing a delay. “The fence on the inside suddenly came into view, and I tried to hold on without falling by putting my left shoulder on the fence, but the outside was getting narrower and I couldn’t do it anymore. I was barely able to avoid Kojima either.” Yamamoto says. Although he returned to the group, he allowed Kojima to take the lead alone.
With less than 10km remaining, the difference between the main group and Kojima was 20 seconds. Team Bridgestone Cycling tried to hold back the main group, but the team wanting to make it a sprint race picked up the pace and chased after Kojima. With less than 7km remaining, Shigeyuki Masuda (JCL Team Ukyo) started chasing him alone, but it was already too late, and Kojima appeared alone on the straight with 1km remaining. Looking at the sprint that had started behind him, Kojima was confident of victory with 200m remaining. He crossed the finish line, thrusting his arms up over and over again.
Immediately after that, the main group finished with Hayabusa Okamoto in the lead. Takeru Sato took 3rd place, and Aisan Kogyo Racing Team took 2nd and 3rd place. Daiki Yamamoto, who was late, won the fighting spirit award.
Winner Naoki Kojima Comment
“The plan was for me or Shunsuke Imamura to get out first, and if we couldn’t, then the team’s plan was to do a group sprint.Since I was able to get out, I was planning to go all the way to the end.Team Bridgestone Cycling was aiming for a sprint race. They may have thought that they would come, but I think it was good that they were able to devise and execute a strategy to escape from there.
I didn’t notice that there was a fence sticking out at the corner just before Koremasa Bridge, so I was able to avoid it because I was running in front of it, but Yamamoto, who was behind me, hit it. After that, I was alone and I just kept stepping because I didn’t know how much distance the 20 seconds difference was. I thought I might be able to make it if I persevered, and with lots of support from the roadside, I was able to push through to the end. Normally it would be about 10km, but it felt like a long time.
I was still training with the national track team and hadn’t entered the off-season, so I wasn’t at my peak, but I was feeling good. Since he had run in two track meets in the previous two weeks, he was able to handle the early attack battles and was able to maintain his legs for the second half. I think that led to the result.
I’m planning to take some time off around Christmas, so I’d like to take a good mental break and prepare for the Okinawa training camp starting in January. And I want to take my first peak to the Nations Cup.”
Fighting Award Daiki Yamamoto (JCL Team Ukyo)
“From the beginning, I wanted to attack, squeeze the group, and escape.In the end, Kojima was able to escape, so I realized that my attack was able to cause damage to the group. It’s a shame that it probably didn’t turn out well. It’s a waste.
I’m in pretty good shape, and I think a big factor is that I was able to prepare well for the start of the next season. That’s why it’s all the more frustrating. I want to change my mind and aim for next season.”
2nd place Hayato Okamoto (Aisan Kogyo Racing Team)
“As a team, we were thinking of a two-person sprint with myself and Ken Sato.However, I was surprised that Bridgestone, which I thought was aiming for a sprint, would try to run alone, and the group wasn’t on the same page. However, we were not able to catch up as a team. There were several times this season where we allowed ourselves to run away, so I would like to reflect on this for next year.
I think it was a good thing that we were able to hold on to 2nd and 3rd place, and personally, we were able to show off our group sprint speed in front of a large number of spectators, as well as our speed at top speed. I think it was good.”
2023-12-03 12:43:00
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