The Tour de France Saitama Criterium is now in its 10th year since it was first held in 2013. The weather for the competition, which is very sunny every year in autumn, is rainy. However, as many spectators as in previous years went to the side of the course, and the world’s leading cyclists were involved in a heated battle among the large crowd, which had built on a major the Tour de France race.
The main venue this year is not the Saitama Super Arena community arena, but the main arena, which is surrounded by 360-degree seating, according to the Memorial Race. Also, although overall winner Tadej Pogačar (Slovakia, Emirates Team UAE) is not among the participants, he will compete with Vuelta a España main winner Primoš Roglič (Slovakia, Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe) in the Tour Mark Cavendish category (Great Britain, Astana Kazakhstan), who broke the winning record, participating.
There is also a good selection of members, including Biniyam Gilmay (Eritrea, Intermarche Wanty), who won the Maillot Vert, and Yukiya Shinshiro (Bahrain Victorious), who was participating for the 10th time.
This year’s program went very smoothly, with an opening ceremony, a parade run, and a time trial race. Shimano Racing won the team time trial race (distance 3.2km) which started at 13:20, followed by Bahrain Victorious in second place and Japan Special Team for Saitama led by Japanese TT champion Sohei Kaneko in third place.
Then, at 14:55, the main criterium race began with a total distance of 61.2km, consisting of 17 laps around a 3.6km course including two hairpin corners. Three people jumped out of the group, except for Ben O’Connor (Australia, Decathlon AG2R La Mondial) and Motoki Yamamoto (Kinan Racing Team), who could not participate after falling in the event -law, and the main group was led by Shinshiro.
Three riders, including Sandy Dujardin (France, Total Energy) and Ryohei Fujita (Saitama Sado Sun Brave) escaped from Ageo, Saitama Prefecture, but were quickly swallowed up by the main group, followed by Cavendish’s Astana in front. Shinshiro attacked early aiming for the intermediate sprint set on the second lap. However, Cavendish came from behind, and Jasper Philipsen (Belgium, Alpecin Deceuninck) entered from another line and took the lead.
Five people, including Christopher Froome (UK, Israel Premier Tech) and Romain Bardet (France, DSM Firmenich Post NL), escaped on the underground climb immediately afterwards. Also, in the group that also included Yusuke Hatanaka (Kinan Racing Team) and Soyu Amano (Shimano Racing), who are retiring from active duty, Balde came first at the first mountain point. However, the peloton pulled back before the second intermediate sprint (lap 6).
In the second intermediate sprint (lap 6), Victor Campenaerts (Belgium, Lotte Destiny) was unable to make a long sprint, and Philipsen came first after beating Cavendish and Gilmay. Shortly after, a group of people fled again, and Balde was again among the eight.
At the second mountain point, Balde also passed here first, and five other riders, including Daiki Magosaki (Kinan Racing Team), fell from their cars when their tires slipped on the rubber road surface at the side of – outside the main area. Although none of the players were seriously injured, Magosaki and Roger Adria (Spain, Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe) retired. After that, three riders, including John Degenkolb (Germany, DSM Firmenich Post NL), who survived the crash, took the lead.
The group pulled back and entered the third intermediate sprint (lap 10), with Cavendish winning the three-way sprint with Philipsen and Gilmay. After that, Froome and six others escaped, but were withdrawn before the intermediate sprint that followed, and this time Philipsen came first. Right after that, a magnificent three-man leadership group was formed, consisting of Shinshiro, Bardet, and Roglič, who had been hiding in the group until now.
The three riders in front put on a show as the water deepened, but those behind them did not allow them to extend their lead. Baldet passed the fourth mountain in the lead, while Roglič took off his rain gear and showed off his mayor’s rojo. Then, before the last lap, Balde fell behind, and Roglič and Shinshiro heard the bell for the last lap.
Immediately afterwards, Roglič pushed off Shinshiro, who said after the race, “My legs were worn out because of the rain.” Roglič, who took the lead alone, kept a high pace and entered the final underpass with a lead of around 7 seconds. However, the following group closed the distance between them and Mayorrojo at a fast pace, and Gilmay began to break away from the support of Intermarche.
Gilmay, who continued to step on the big gear, passed Roglič just before the finish line. Rain clouds hid the sun and Maillot Vert jumped to the finish line in darkness.
Gilmay, who won three stages at this year’s Tour and won the Maillot Vert, won for the first time in his first appearance. “It’s like a dream to win at Saitama Criterium, where there are so many champions and legends, because when I was a kid I dreamed of running with Sagan, Froome, Cavendish, Roglič and other great sprinters. So, I really am. happy I could hear the support from the Eritrean fans and their cheer gave me strength,” said Gilmayi.
In second place is Roglič, who has shown menacing endurance, and in third place is Cavendish, who plans to retire from active duty at the end of this year. Philipsen came in 4th place, Hirohiro Hatsukawa (Asian Business Racing Team) was the leading Japanese racer in 7th place, and Shinshiro, who had an amazing performance in the final stages, finished 9th.
The results of other special awards such as the fighting spirit award are as follows.
2024-11-02 12:51:00
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