4th Tour of Japan, Cat 2.4

1998 Results     Past Winners     Teams     The Stages: Stage 1 - Senboku Circuit, Sakai City, Osaka, 140.8 kms: Stage 2 - Todaiji Temple-Nunome Dam Circuit, Nara, 146.75 kms: Stage 3 - Circuit at Japan Cycle Sports Centre, Shuzenji, 146.4 kms: Stage 4 - Circuit at Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi, 153.36 kms: Stage 5 - Utsunomiya Forest Park Circuit, Utsunomiya, 151.3 kms: Stage 6 - Hibiya-Ooi Wharf Circuit, Tokyo, 147.2 kms: Preview Miwako Sasaki from Japan is helping with data and race reports for the 4th Tour of Japan. She has helped me get the complete results from the Tour of Japan Organising Committee, who I am also grateful to. The 4th Tour of Japan is being held from Sunday, May 16 to Sunday, May 23, with a rest day to transfer riders on Tuesday, May 18. The 100 registered riders will cover 885.8 kms in total. There are some interesting features of the race. Stage 2, visits the town of Nara for the first time. It is a very old town and famous for its huge statue of the Buddha. Also on the Tour of Japan parcours for the first time is the Motegi Circuit. Stage 3 takes the riders to the Shuzenji Circuit, which is a very dificult parcours and each year is instrumental in determining the final outcome for the race. Stage 5 at the Utsunomiya Forest Park Circuit is the same parcours as for the 1990 World Championship road race and is also used in October for the Japan Cup. Complete Starting List Team Polti (Ita) Cantina Tollo-Alexia (Ita) 11 Cristiano Colleoni (Ita) 21 Gabriele Colombo (Ita) 12 Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) 22 Moreno Di Biase (Ita) 13 Leonardo Guidi (Ita) 23 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) 14 Denis Lunghi (Ita) 24 Gianpaolo Mondini (Ita) 15 Silvio Martinello (Ita) 25 Germano Pierdomenico (Ita) 16 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) 26 Emanuele Negrini (Ita) Mroz (Pol) Saturn (USA) 31 Cezary Zamana (Pol) 41 Jimmy Hansen (Den) 32 Grzegorz Wajs (Pol) 42 Brian Walton (Can) 33 Dariusz Wojciechowski (Pol) 43 Chris Wherry (USA) 34 Jacek Mickiewicz (Pol) 44 35 Andrzej Sypytkowski (Pol) 45 Adham Sbeih (USA) 36 Arkadiusz Wojtas (Pol) 46 Frank McCormack (USA) Die Continentale/Olympia (Ger) Nippon Hodo-Besson Chaussures (Fra) 51 Nick Gates (Aus) 61 Stephane Auroux (Fra) 52 Hans-Kurt Brand (Swi) 62 Christophe Gauthier (Fra) 53 Richard Chassot (Swi) 63 Benoit Luminet (Fra) 54 Jason Phillips (Aus) 64 Sebastien Laroche (Fra) 55 Daniel Paradis (Swi) 65 Takehiro Mizutani (Jap) 56 Bjorn Glasner (Ger) 66 Nobuhiro Mashimo (Jap) Kazakstan Australia 71 Vladim Kravchenko (Kaz) 81 Michael Rogers (Aus) 72 Sergey Lavrenenko (Kaz) 82 Cameron Mcdonald (Aus) 73 Andrey Kashechnin (Kaz) 83 Allan Davis (Aus) 74 Sergey Beloussov (Kaz) 84 Nathan O'Neill (Aus) 75 Pavel Nevdakh (Kaz) 85 Scott Davis (Aus) 76 Kairat Baigudinov (Kaz) 86 New Zealand Korea 91 Brendon Vesty (NZ) 101 Ho-Sung Cho (Kor) 92 Glen Mitchell (NZ) 102 InChan Park (Kor) 93 Warren Clark (NZ) 103 Jong-Jae Kim (Kor) 94 Greame Miller (NZ) 104 Taechan Chang (Kor) 95 Ryan Russell (NZ) 105 Min-woo Kong (Kor) 96 Darren Murray (NZ) 106 TaeHo Kim (Kor) Bridgestone Anchor (Jap) Sumita Ravanello Pearlizumi (Jap) 111 Tomokazu Fujino (Jap) 121 Makoto Iijima (Jap) 112 Junichi Shibuya (Jap) 122 Keita Seino (Jap) 113 Ken Hasikawa (Jap) 123 Xuezhong Tang (Chn) 114 Shinichi Fukushima (Jap) 124 Daisuke Sakuta (Jap) 115 Tetsuya Okada (Jap) 125 Morito Yamamoto (Jap) 116 Yasutaka Tashiro (Jap) 126 Ikki Yoneyama (Jap) Inoac B-CKS IRC (Jap) Shimano Racing (Jap) 131 Takahiro Yamada (Jap) 141 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jap) 132 Shinji Suzuki (Jap) 142 Osamu Sumida (Jap) 133 Taiji Tanaka (Jap) 143 Naofumi Imanishi (Jap) 134 Takashi Yamada (Jap) 144 Hidenori Nodera (Jap) 135 Shinji Ikeda (Jap) 145 Shinri Suzuki (Jap) 136 Yasunori Kato (Jap) 146 Tomoya Kanou (Jap) Cheblo Artnature (Jap) Miyata Subaru Racing (Jap) 151 Takeshi Okamoto (Jap) 161 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jap) 152 Naokiyo Hashisako (Jap) 162 Masanari Tate (Jap) 153 Susumu Oikawa (Jap) 163 Hideto Yukinari (Jap) 154 Eiko Takahashi (Jap) 164 Daisuke Nakayama (Jap) 155 Makio Madarame (Jap) 165 Nobuhide Suezawa (Jap) 156 Mitsuhiro Taninai (Jap) 166 Akihiro Osawa (Jap) Team JPCA (Jap) 171 Kyoshi Miura (Jap) 172 Masahiro Yasuhara (Jap) 173 Yasuhiro Nakajima (Jap) 174 Osamu Kurimura (Jap) 175 Hideyuki Nishiyama (Jap) 176 Kazuya Okazaki (Jap) Thanks to Miwako Sasaki, Japan Miwako writes that the Japanese organiser's numbering is unconventional. The defending champion Frank McCormack would normally wear number 1. But for some unknown reason there is no number 1. Past Winners 1996 Jean-Philippe Duracka (Fra) French national team 1997 Bart Bowen (USA) Saturn 1998 Frank McCormack (USA) Saturn 1999