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Tour of Japan - 2.2
Japan, May 14-21, 2006
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Stage 1 - May 14: Senboku Circuit, Sakai City (Osaka), 140.8km
Wong finally wins in the centre of Japan
By Miwako Sasaki in Osaka
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Hong Kong's Kam Po Wong has sprinted to victory in the first stage of the 10th Tour of Japan into Osaka, beating Japanese Yukiya Arashiro (Team Vang Cycling) and Australian Ashley Hutchinson (South Australia.com-AIS).
The stage was flat and the weather was fine: Not hot, not cold. It was a perfect day for enjoying cycling, except for Raivis Belohvosciks (Team Universal Caffe-C.B. Immobiliare). The Latvian time trial specialist attacked just after starting the race, 11 laps of a 12.8km circuit, with Hanco Kachelhoffer (Team Konica Minolta). The break immediately got a gap to the peloton, and it was two minutes at 8 laps to go, where Koji Fukushima (Team Van Cycling) attacked from the peloton and tried to catch them, but the Japanese couldn't do so.
After the break gained a maximum of 3'30 at 5 laps to go, the peloton started to work for the final sprint. South Australia.com-AIS and the Hong Kong national team accelerated in front of the peloton, and the advantage of the break was decreased.
The break ended at 2 laps to go, and Team Vang Cycling's red and white train led the peloton coming into the final lap. But this Japanese team's young, and talented rider Arashiro, who was second in the fourth stage of Giro delle Regioni in Italy this year, couldn't show his potential in the biggest race for Japanese. He was beaten by an experienced rider in Kam Po Wong.
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33 year old Wong already won many races in Japan, four times at the Tour de Okinawa (1995, 1998, 2000 and 2004) and Tour de Hokkaido in 2004. The first one is held on a southern island and the next one is on the big north island of Japan. So it was the first victory for Wong in the central part of this country, and also in the biggest stage race there.
"I'm very happy that I could finally win at the centre of Japan," said Wong. "It was my hope for a long time. I know that it will be difficult to keep my green leader's jersey, but I'll try to do it in the mountain stages."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Miwako Sasaki
- Welcome to Osaka, welcome to Japan!
- Hey ragazzi, let's take a picture in Japanese style, Peace!
- Masahiro Shinagawa (Skil-Shimano) checks his bike before the start
- South Australia.com-AIS in Japan
- Belgian Fidea is followed by a local TV crew
- Team Konica Minolta before the start.
- One of favorites for the Tour of Japan this year, Peter Velits (Team Konica Minolta).
- Hong Kong boys are waiting to start.
- Vladimir Duma (Team Universal Caffe-C.B. Immobiliare, L) and Andrey Mizourov (Cycling Team Capec).
- Raivis Belohvoschiks (Team Universal Caffe-C.B. Immobiliare, L) is thinking about a long breakaway before the start.
- The race starts, the festival starts!
- The break: Raivis Belohvoschiks (Team Universal Caffe-C.B. Immobiliare, L) and Hanco Kachelhoffer (Team Konica Minolta).
- The most aggressive rider today: Raivis Belohvoschiks (Team Universal Caffe-C.B. Immobiliare)
- Sean Finning (South Australia.com-AIS) leads the peloton.
- Hong Kong boys work hard for thier leader, Kam Po Wong.
- About 15,000 spectators gathered during the first stage of the 10th Tour of Japan.
- Hong Kong's Kam Po Wong wins the bunch sprint.
- The first stage winner Kam Po Wong (Hong Kong, China) gets the green leader's jersey.
- Kam Po Wong (Hong Kong, China) also gets the blue points jersey.
- Do you know that the paper you bring is very important for Japanese athletes, Wong?
Results
1 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 3.06.18 2 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 3 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 4 Daniele Di Nucci (Ita) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 5 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 6 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Skil Shimano 7 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 8 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 9 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 10 Alexandr Dymovskikh (Kaz) Capec Cycling Team 11 Kaoru Ohuchi (Jpn) Skil Shimano 12 Andrey Mizurov (Kaz) Capec Cycling Team 13 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Miyata Subaru 14 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz) Capec Cycling Team 15 Daniel Lloyd (Ger) Giant Asia Racing Team 16 Alexey Lyalko (Kaz) Capec Cycling Team 17 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) Asian Racing Team 18 Kyoshi Miura (Jpn) Team Matrix Powertag 19 Wai Cheung King (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 20 Martin Velits (Svk) Konica Minolta 21 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 22 Tsun Lam Kai (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 23 Yip Tang Wang (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 24 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 25 Ken Akita (Jpn) Asian Racing Team 26 Ivan De Nobile (Ita) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 27 Atsushi Takano (Jpn) Miyata Subaru 28 Kaoru Obata (Jpn) Nalsema Frend 29 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 30 Tobias Erler (Ger) Giant Asia Racing Team 31 Marnus Potgieter (RSA) Konica Minolta 32 Naoki Mukaigawa (Jpn) Team Matrix Powertag 33 Ikki Yoneyama (Jpn) Sumita Raello Pearl Izumi 34 Alexandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Capec Cycling Team 35 Masaru Fukuhara (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 36 Tomoya Sano (Jpn) Team Matrix Powertag 37 Manabu Hirose (Jpn) You Can Specialized Nissyo 38 Mitsuteru Tanaka (Jpn) Asian Racing Team 39 Yoshiaki Sudou (Jpn) Nalsema Frend 40 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 41 Peter Velits (Svk) Konica Minolta 42 John-Lee Augustyn (RSA) Konica Minolta 43 Kuei Hsiang Peng (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 44 Hanco Kachelhoffer (RSA) Konica Minolta 45 Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 46 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil Shimano 47 Yoshinori Iino (Jpn) Sumita Raello Pearl Izumi 48 Akihiro Munehisa (Jpn) You Can Specialized Nissyo 49 Ken Hashikawa (Jpn) Team Matrix Powertag 50 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Skil Shimano 51 Masahumi Yamane (Jpn) You Can Specialized Nissyo 52 David McCann (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team 53 Masayuki Kimura (Jpn) Nalsema Frend 54 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) Asian Racing Team 55 Koji Nagano (Jpn) Team Matrix Powertag 56 Norihide Murayama (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 57 Arthur Ayers (Jpn) Sumita Raello Pearl Izumi 58 San Wu Kin (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 59 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Skil Shimano 60 Peter Dawson (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 61 Tomoji Taniguchi (Jpn) Sumita Raello Pearl Izumi 62 Kazunari Asano (Jpn) Sumita Raello Pearl Izumi 63 Yusuke Muroi (Jpn) You Can Specialized Nissyo 64 Kojiro Nakagawa (Jpn) Team Matrix Powertag 65 Takumi Beppu (Jpn) Asian Racing Team 66 Ilya Chernyshov (Kaz) Capec Cycling Team 67 Kentaro Eshita (Jpn) Sumita Raello Pearl Izumi 68 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 69 Paul Griffin (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team 70 Fabio Gilioli (Ita) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 71 Dmitri Nikandorov (Rus) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 72 Yusuke Hatanaka (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 73 Yoshimasa Hirose (Jpn) Skil Shimano 74 Hua Lai Kuan (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 75 Jan Verstraeten (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 76 Kenichi Suzuki (Jpn) You Can Specialized Nissyo 77 Junya Sano (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 78 Michael Ford (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 79 Yuzuru Suzuki (Jpn) You Can Specialized Nissyo 80 Taichi Moriyama (Jpn) Miyata Subaru 81 Kohei Tsusue (Jpn) Miyata Subaru 82 Manabu Takanashi (Jpn) Nalsema Frend 83 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 84 Koki Shimbo (Jpn) Asian Racing Team 85 Yasutaka Tashiro (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 86 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Miyata Subaru 87 Yasuhiro Nito (Jpn) Nalsema Frend 88 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Miyata Subaru 89 Hideo Yoshida (Jpn) Nalsema Frend 90 Takayuki Naganuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 91 Hing Chan Chun (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 92 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 93 Raivis Belohvoschiks (Lat) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 1.25 94 Sean Finning (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 11.25 95 Johannes Christiaan Rabie (RSA) Konica Minolta Points 1 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 15 pts 2 Raivis Belohvoschiks (Lat) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 15 3 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 12 4 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 10 5 Hanco Kachelhoffer (RSA) Konica Minolta 9 6 Daniele Di Nucci (Ita) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 8 7 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 6 8 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Skil Shimano 5 9 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 4 10 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 3 11 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 2 12 Tsun Lam Kai (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 2 13 Junya Sano (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 2 14 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 2 15 Alexandr Dymovskikh (Kaz) Capec Cycling Team 1 Teams 1 Fidea Cycling Team 9.18.54 2 Cycling Team Capec 3 Hong Kong China 4 Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 5 Skil - Shimano 6 Team Vang Cycling 7 Aisan Racing Team 8 Team Matrix Powertag - Specialized 9 Giant Asia Racing Team 10 Team Konika Minolta 11 Team Bridgestone - Anchor 12 South Australia. Com 13 Miyata - Subaru 14 Nalsima Frend 15 You Can Specialized Nissyo 16 Sumita Ravanello Pearl Izumi General classification after stage 1 1 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 3.06.18 2 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 3 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 4 Daniele Di Nucci (Ita) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 5 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 6 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Skil Shimano 7 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 8 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 9 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 10 Alexandr Dymovskikh (Kaz) Capec Cycling Team 11 Kaoru Ohuchi (Jpn) Skil Shimano 12 Andrey Mizurov (Kaz) Capec Cycling Team 13 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Miyata Subaru 14 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz) Capec Cycling Team 15 Daniel Lloyd (Ger) Giant Asia Racing Team 16 Alexey Lyalko (Kaz) Capec Cycling Team 17 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) Asian Racing Team 18 Kyoshi Miura (Jpn) Team Matrix Powertag 19 Wai Cheung King (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 20 Martin Velits (Svk) Konica Minolta 21 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 22 Tsun Lam Kai (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 23 Yip Tang Wang (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 24 Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 25 Ken Akita (Jpn) Asian Racing Team 26 Ivan De Nobile (Ita) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 27 Atsushi Takano (Jpn) Miyata Subaru 28 Kaoru Obata (Jpn) Nalsema Frend 29 Vladimir Duma (Ukr) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 30 Tobias Erler (Ger) Giant Asia Racing Team 31 Marnus Potgieter (RSA) Konica Minolta 32 Naoki Mukaigawa (Jpn) Team Matrix Powertag 33 Ikki Yoneyama (Jpn) Sumita Raello Pearl Izumi 34 Alexandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Capec Cycling Team 35 Masaru Fukuhara (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 36 Tomoya Sano (Jpn) Team Matrix Powertag 37 Manabu Hirose (Jpn) You Can Specialized Nissyo 38 Mitsuteru Tanaka (Jpn) Asian Racing Team 39 Yoshiaki Sudou (Jpn) Nalsema Frend 40 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 41 Peter Velits (Svk) Konica Minolta 42 John-Lee Augustyn (RSA) Konica Minolta 43 Kuei Hsiang Peng (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 44 Hanco Kachelhoffer (RSA) Konica Minolta 45 Peter Van Santvliet (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 46 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil Shimano 47 Yoshinori Iino (Jpn) Sumita Raello Pearl Izumi 48 Akihiro Munehisa (Jpn) You Can Specialized Nissyo 49 Ken Hashikawa (Jpn) Team Matrix Powertag 50 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Skil Shimano 51 Masahumi Yamane (Jpn) You Can Specialized Nissyo 52 David McCann (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team 53 Masayuki Kimura (Jpn) Nalsema Frend 54 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) Asian Racing Team 55 Koji Nagano (Jpn) Team Matrix Powertag 56 Norihide Murayama (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 57 Arthur Ayers (Jpn) Sumita Raello Pearl Izumi 58 San Wu Kin (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 59 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Skil Shimano 60 Peter Dawson (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 61 Tomoji Taniguchi (Jpn) Sumita Raello Pearl Izumi 62 Kazunari Asano (Jpn) Sumita Raello Pearl Izumi 63 Yusuke Muroi (Jpn) You Can Specialized Nissyo 64 Kojiro Nakagawa (Jpn) Team Matrix Powertag 65 Takumi Beppu (Jpn) Asian Racing Team 66 Ilya Chernyshov (Kaz) Capec Cycling Team 67 Kentaro Eshita (Jpn) Sumita Raello Pearl Izumi 68 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 69 Paul Griffin (Irl) Giant Asia Racing Team 70 Fabio Gilioli (Ita) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 71 Dmitri Nikandorov (Rus) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 72 Yusuke Hatanaka (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 73 Yoshimasa Hirose (Jpn) Skil Shimano 74 Hua Lai Kuan (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team 75 Jan Verstraeten (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 76 Kenichi Suzuki (Jpn) You Can Specialized Nissyo 77 Junya Sano (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 78 Michael Ford (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 79 Yuzuru Suzuki (Jpn) You Can Specialized Nissyo 80 Taichi Moriyama (Jpn) Miyata Subaru 81 Kohei Tsusue (Jpn) Miyata Subaru 82 Manabu Takanashi (Jpn) Nalsema Frend 83 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 84 Koki Shimbo (Jpn) Asian Racing Team 85 Yasutaka Tashiro (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 86 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Miyata Subaru 87 Yasuhiro Nito (Jpn) Nalsema Frend 88 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Miyata Subaru 89 Hideo Yoshida (Jpn) Nalsema Frend 90 Takayuki Naganuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 91 Hing Chan Chun (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 92 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 93 Raivis Belohvoschiks (Lat) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 1.25 94 Sean Finning (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 11.25 95 Johannes Christiaan Rabie (RSA) Konica Minolta Points classification 1 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 15 pts 2 Raivis Belohvoschiks (Lat) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 15 3 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 12 4 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS 10 5 Hanco Kachelhoffer (RSA) Konica Minolta 9 6 Daniele Di Nucci (Ita) Team Universal Caffe - C.B.Immobiliare 8 7 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 6 8 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Skil Shimano 5 9 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 4 10 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 3 11 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 2 12 Tsun Lam Kai (HKg) Hong Kong National Team 2 13 Junya Sano (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 2 14 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Team Vang Cycling 2 15 Alexandr Dymovskikh (Kaz) Capec Cycling Team 1
