The Tour de Okinawa was held for the first time in three years. In the 210km city race, which attracts a lot of attention, Ryohiro Takaoka (Roppongi Express) took the lead alone in the last 75km uphill and escaped. It was his seventh victory in this category.
The battle to decide the pinnacle of hobby racing
On November 13, the Tour de Okinawa was held for the first time in three years.
This year’s event was held with a reduced number of participants due to the new coronavirus, but the starting list for the 210km city event was still full of strong faces.
This time the entrance section of the Haneji dam, which was the last competition point every year, could not be used due to a collapse and was contested over a distance of km.
Early in the morning, when it rained heavily, after the champion class started first,7Time27minimum citizen210km race started. The contenders for the championship immediately lined up at the front.
Also, time will recover as you progress further away. Far from peeping into the blue sky, the strong sunlight was shining and the temperature had risen to nearly 30 degrees.
A few kilometers from the start5 peopleWhen forming an escape group, the distance increases by increasing or decreasing the number of people chasing.
In the course, Fukugawa Climb, which has a mountain point, appears twice in total, at the 77.8km point and at the 130.1km point after going around the northern part.
Three escape groups have appeared at the first mountain point. It was a composition of 3 tsuiso with a small interval, followed by a group.
Ryuji Kaga (SUBARU Cycling Team) and Iori Kishimoto (Road Race Men’s Division) remained in the first breakaway group. Takeshi Tomita is chasing from behind
Shohei Ishii (Artifact Racing Team), Takayuki Mizuno (Infinity Style) and Kenya Tateoka (Hayasaka Cycle Racing Team) chase
A group of people running along the Fukugawa River in the fog
It wasn’t until after the first ascent that things started to stir. Shohei Ishii (Artifact Racing Team), who escaped solo from this year’s Niseko Classic, is a group of 5 chasing each other through the ups and downs around the Cape Hedo, which is the northernmost tip of the island of Okinawa.last year’s winnerTakaokaRyokan (Roppongi Express) jumped out from the crowdknot.
“Since Ishii-kun was there (in front), I thought we should go together. At that time, I think the time difference (with the one behind) was about a minute,” recalls Takaoka.
Driving along the coast and before entering the second mountain section, Takaokajoined the pursuing group.
Takaoka caught up with the tsuiso group, including Ishii, along the coast.
Entering the second mountain section, Ishii’s conditions as seen from Takaoka were not at all favourable. Takaoka reached the front, shaking off the tsuiso group members, including Ishii. The two people running in front grabbed onto Takaoka’s back for a while, but it was only for a short while.
Takaoka climbing to the top of the tsuiso group
The overwhelming favorite to win was already the sole leader at around 75km.
“I honestly had no intention of running away from there anymore, I just wish someone would reach me from behind.
Even Takaoka himself didn’t dare to escape him.
Of course, Takaoka’s branding is not weak, and as expected, the peloton will go uphill and attack, led by Ryo Sasaki (teamGOCHI) and Shunsuke Nakamura (Route365), and the pace will pick up. Near the top of the mountain, the distance between Takaoka and the group had shrunk to about 30 seconds.
However, Takaoka’s remaining player fell in the exit section. The group rushed in and the group was temporarily stopped.
In the city race, which had a strong flavor of individual competition, none of the group wanted to use their legs. As a result, there is no movement to pursue Takaoka. Outside Kitano (Iname Shinano Yamagata), who was in the group, looks back.
“The group mentality didn’t work well. We all started chasing after Mr. Takaoka, but it didn’t go well. The people in the attached position repeatedly stopped the rotation. We go off the slopes, but nobody seems to turn around on the descents. In the end we we ended up with a group pace that was no match for Mr. Takaoka’s mental strength.”
Takaoka, who had widened the time zone in the downhills, said he knew the peloton would be like this.
“I know what it’s like to be behind. Eventually, even if there are 20 people (group), 10 people are just stuck and can’t turn around. It’s quite a stressful feeling, like, ‘I’m going to follow you.’ Of course, there’s no way we can come together as a team and set the pace. So, I’m going to go as far as I can on my own.”
At the last refueling point at the 171 km point, the difference increased to 2 minutes and the last climb, which replaced Haneji Dam, was entered with a sufficient time difference of less than 3 minutes.
“At the time, I thought if I only thought about three minutes in an uphill race, I wouldn’t be able to recover. That experience was huge. Without it, I would never have been able to do it.”
Takaoka, convinced he could win if he made it through the climb and had no punctures or crashes, expressed his joy on camera at the relay.
Takaoka, who had plenty of space behind him, repeated the punches to finish.
After reaching the bottom, Takaoka appeared in the straight line where the finish line could be seen, and he repeated the punches as he pleased. In 2007, 2011, 2015-2017 and 2019, he won his seventh victory in the Tour de Okinawa Citizens 210km category, which many amateur racers target. They have won five of the last six tournaments.
Competition in the group that missed the championship
In the group that allowed Takaoka to run alone, the form of jumping a bit and being absorbed continued without being able to take the lead as usual.
In the last uphill part, Nakamura almost completely upped his pace from the back. The seven who managed to keep up earned the right to fight for the podium.
Side by side on the last straight. Kitano finished first and finished second.
“It’s frustrating. Mr. Takaoka said, ‘You’re 100 years too early to beat me,'” Kitano says.
3rd place goes to Hiroki Minami (Team Zenko). Minami is said to have attended Okinawa for the first time at the request of his wife Fumiko.
“It was my first time participating, so I didn’t know the course very well and I hadn’t even done a test run, so I ran with the intention of following as far as possible. Takaoka-san had already run away, so I didn’t could complete the rotation behind him. , I was running with the feeling that I was about to reach the point where I could reach the end of my legs. But towards the end, I was thinking if I could stay until the end or maybe it was a sprint ”, Minami looked back.
Sprint for second place
Kitano secures second place. “I think he is the best in the human world (laughs).”
Yamato Kanematsu and others, who were delayed by picking up pace on the final climb, separated from the peloton to finish.
Minami, which usually runs JBCF tenders. His wife, Fumiko, entered the Citizen Ladies 50km race for the first time and won. The couple won the podium together. “I’ve read everyone’s articles, how to breathe, the courses and what everyone wrote and practiced. But the results have been better than I expected. I’ve never been in a race like this before, so it’s really tough, but when I’m high, I feel like it was fun, so it’s weird that it’s a race,” laughed Minami.
“Best” update.
As a Roppongi Express team, they aimed to win in all categories they entered, but failed to finish second in both the 140km and 50km events.
Even so, the 210km race, which is the top category in city running, has everyone’s attention.
“It’s rare to finish that far. I thought I really finished 100% the day before,” said Takaoka.
7th win
Takaoka’s motivation for cycling is endless, as he challenged the Guinness World Record in Japan and the Gravel World Championship.
“Among these, the Tour de Okinawa is my axis, I’ve done gravel and I’ve done various things, but this is still the best.
He says he wants to aim for Okinawa again next year when he turns 46.
“You’ll never know until you try.
Who knows if Takaoka will continue to update further “to the best”.
Tour de Okinawa 2022 city race 210km result
1 persontall庆物寛 (Roppongi Express) 5 hours 14 minutes 54 seconds
2nd place Outside Kitano (Iname Shinano Yamagata) +2 minutes and 28 seconds
3rd Hiroki Minami (Team Zenko) +2 minutes 28 seconds
4th place Tatsuya Ikegawa (VC VELOCE/EMU) +2 minutes and 28 seconds
5th place Ryo Sasaki (teamGOCHI) +2 minutes and 28 seconds
6th place Fumihiko Sato (men’s road division) +2 minutes and 28 seconds
7th Dobori Yusuke + 2 minutes and 29 seconds
8th Shunsuke Nakamura (Route365) +2 minutes and 29 seconds
9th Yamato Kanematsu (Infinity Style) +3 minutes and 15 seconds
10 Masato Harada (Infinity Style) +3 minutes and 15 seconds
