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12th Tour of Japan - 2.2
Japan, May 18-25, 2008
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 2 - May 19: Dalbutsuden - Nunome Dam circuit race, 146.2km
Australia dominate again
By Miwako Sasaki
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South Australia.com-AIS's Wesley Sulzberger took stage 2 of the Tour of Japan, ahead of team-mate Cameron Meyer in Nara. The 21 year old Australian jumped away from the breakaway with Meyer and Kazuo Inoue (Nippo-Endeka) in the final lap before leaving the local rider behind to take both first and second in the stage and the overall. Sulzberger took over the overall lead from team-mate Zakkari Dempster, who won stage one in a sprint.
"Obviously, we wanted to keep working in the break to hold off the peloton, which was chasing pretty hard behind our group," said Sulzberger. "In the last couple of laps Cam [Meyer] and I both knew attacks would come on the finishing climb, so we marked riders, stayed up the front and stayed alert.
"Cam slipped off the front in the final lap; when the Japanese guy counter-attacked I got on his wheel," explained Sulzberger. "I looked back and the rest of our group wasn't chasing, so I told Cam on the radio to keep going."
Holding a two against one advantage over Inoue, Meyer launched the first attack. "Cam went down the left and the Japanese guy (Inoue) had nothing left in the tank to counter so then I went down the right and we were away," said Sulzberger.
Sulzberger and Meyer now sit first and second overall but Sulzberger says they can deal with the pressure. "We might have won the first two stages but it's like any other race now and we have to plan our strategy," he said. "We'll try our hardest and not get too much of a big head."
How it unfolded
93 riders started the second stage from Todaiji, a beautiful old temple in Nara. Polish rider Marek Rutkiewicz (Mroz-Action-Uniqa), one of the victims of yesterday's crash with 300 meters to go, started the day's stage but was forced to withdraw after nine laps. The wounds which he sustained yesterday on his left hip proved to difficult to continue with.
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12 riders attacked the peloton shortly after the stage began, with an additional four riders joining them later on. With 11 teams represented in the 16 rider break the peloton were happy to allow them a lead and after seven laps were covered they had built a lead of 1'40". The break included Japanese champion Yukiya Arashiro (Meitan Hompo-GDR), Mariusz Witecki (Mroz- Action-Uniqa), Rhys Pollock and Jai Crawford (Trek-Marco Polo Cycling Team), Inoue and Davis Miorin (Nippo-Endeka), Alexandre Aulas (A- Style-Somn), Yoshiyuki Abe (Skil-Shimano), Hyo Suk Gong (Seoul Cycling), Sulzberger and Meyer, kazuhiro Mori and Masahiro Shinagawa (Aisan Racing Team), Akira Kakinuma and Masaru Fukuhara (Team Bridgestone Anchor), and Tomoya Sano (Matrix-Powertag).
Pole, Witecki attacked the breakaway with three laps to go, signalling the end of the collaboration between the riders in the break. Arashiro followed him while two more riders tried to get a gap over the rest of the break but were unsuccessful.
In the final lap Sulzberger and Meyer launched the winning attack with Inoue, with Sulzberger triumphing over his team-mate on the final uphill sprint to the line.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Hitoshi Omae/PhotoSport International UK, USA, ASIA
- Team Mroz was seeking help from Buddha for the stage.
- The peloton struggles up a rise, midway through the race.
- Yukiya Arashiro (Meitan Hompo - GDR) on the attack but he was brought back.
- Wesley Sulzberger takes the win for the AIS team. His team-mate Cameron Meyer got second.
- The start at the temple
- The local wildlife was out in force to watch the riders tackle stage 2.
- The 16-man break on the hill.
Images by Miwako Sasaki
- The podium: Wesley Sulzberger (South Australia.com-AIS) & Yukiya Arashiro (Meitan Hompo-GDR).
- Japanese champion Yukiya Arashiro (Meitan Hompo-GDR) gets the red mountain jersey.
- Wesley Sulzberger (South Australia.com-AIS) gets the blue point jersey too.
- Japanese greeting for Wesley Sulzberger (South Australia.com-AIS).
- Wesley Sulzberger (South Australia.com-AIS) gets the green leader jersey after stage 2.
- Stage 2 winner Wesley Sulzberger (South Australia.com-AIS) on the podium.
- Wesley Sulzberger (South Australia.com-AIS) takes a stage.
- Wesley Sulzberger (South Australia.com-AIS) climbs on the final hill.
- Green leader jersey Zakkari Dempster (South Australia.com-AIS) in the peloton.
- A-Style-Somn riders working hard at the front of the peloton with 5 laps to go.
- Yesterday's crash victim Masahiro Shinagawa (Aisan Racing Team) joins the breakaway.
- South Australia.com-AIS has two guys in the breakaway.
- Cloudy sky threw a few drops of rain on the breakaway.
- Australian Rhys Pollock (Trek-Marco Polo Cycling Team) leads the breakaway on the hill.
- Mariusz Witecki (Mroz-Action-Uniqa) works hard in the breakaway.
- Wesley Sulzberger (South Australia.com-AIS) joins 16 riders in the breakaway.
- Leon Van Bon (Trek-Marco Polo Cycling Team) takes a picture of the starting ceremony.
- Zakkari Dempster (South Australia.com-AIS) wears the leader jersey.
- Maxim Gourov (A-Style-Somn) smiles with a security guard.
- Mroz-Action-Uniqa riders try to pray "Japanese style".
- Polish team Mroz-Action-Uniqa takes a picture in front of the temple in Nara.
Results
1 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 2.54.31 2 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 0.01 3 Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 0.13 4 Hyo Suk Gong (Kor) Seoul Cycling 0.20 5 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 0.22 6 Alexandre Aulas (Fra) A-Style Somn 0.24 7 Devis Miorin (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 8 Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 9 Mariusz Witecki (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 10 Jai Crawford (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 0.27 11 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 12 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 13 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 14 Rhys Pollock (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 0.53 15 Alberto Di Lorenzo (Ita) A-Style Somn 1.29 16 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 17 Vicenzo Garofalo (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 1.31 18 Robert Rodosz (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 19 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 20 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 21 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 22 Seok Kyu Suh (Kor) Seoul Cycling 23 Sano Junya (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 24 Ikki Yoneyama (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 25 Takayuki Naganuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 26 Yoshimitsu Hiratsuka (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 27 Timo Albiez (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 28 Tetsuya Fujioka (Jpn) Team JBCF 29 Kenta Onoguchi (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 30 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 31 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 32 Takashi Nakayama (Jpn) Team JBCF 33 Wojciech Pawlak (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 34 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 35 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 36 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 37 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 38 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 39 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 40 Simone Bruson (Ita) A-Style Somn 41 Yosuke Kojima (Jpn) Team JBCF 42 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 43 Ki Hong Yoo (Kor) Seoul Cycling 44 Piotr Chmielewski (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 45 Makoto Nakamura (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 46 Yoshiyuki Shimizu (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 47 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 48 Kohei Tsusue (Jpn) Team JBCF 49 Rogelio Carvalho (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 50 Yoshimasa Hirose (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 51 Michael Haiser (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 52 Dimitri Jiriakov (Lie) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 53 Gu Hyeon Kim (Kor) Seoul Cycling 54 Naoki Mukaigawa (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 55 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 56 Kaoru Obata (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 57 Keita Iwashima (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 58 Genta Nakamura (Jpn) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 59 Keisuke Kamata (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 60 Yasuhiro Nito (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 1.50 61 Maxim Gourov (Kaz) A-Style Somn 62 Masafumi Yamane (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 1.58 63 Simon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 2.23 64 Marcin Gebka (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 65 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 2.48 66 Hideya Akiyama (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 3.13 67 Masafumi Nishitani (Jpn) Team JBCF 4.29 68 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 5.19 69 Kenichi Suzuki (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 70 Kazunari Asano (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 9.09 71 Yoshiaki Sudou (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 9.47 72 Shota Saito (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 73 Sung Baek Park (Kor) Seoul Cycling 74 Daisuke Hioki (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 75 Aristide Ratti (Ita) A-Style Somn 9.52 76 Sylvain Georges (Fra) A-Style Somn 9.55 77 Masaru Fukuhara (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 9.57 78 Tomoyuki Kaneda (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 10.49 79 Mitsuhiro Matsumura (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 80 Won Jae Lee (Kor) Seoul Cycling 12.16 81 Akira Kodan (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 12.40 82 Peter Andres (Swi) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 13.42 83 Mark Jamieson (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 33.42 84 Tomoya Sano (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 85 Masayuki Kimura (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 86 William Ford (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 87 Benjamin Stauder (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 88 Asa Eazu (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 89 Masaki Hirabayashi (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 90 Hiroshi Nara (Jpn) Team JBCF 91 Ikuo Hosoki (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 92 Marco Weilenmann (Swi) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas DNF Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa Points 1 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 15 pts 2 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 12 3 Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 10 4 Hyo Suk Gong (Kor) Seoul Cycling 8 5 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 6 6 Alexandre Aulas (Fra) A-Style Somn 5 7 Devis Miorin (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 4 8 Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 3 9 Mariusz Witecki (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 2 10 Jai Crawford (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 1 Mountains 1 Jai Crawford (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 2 pts 2 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 4 3 Mariusz Witecki (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 5 4 Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 6 5 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 13 Teams 1 South Australia.com-AIS 8.45.05 2 Nippo-Endeka 0.36 3 Aisan Racing Team 0.50 4 Trek-Marco Polo Cycling Team 1.19 5 Seoul Cycling 1.50 6 Meitan Hompo-GDR 1.52 7 A-Style Somn 8 Mroz Action Uniqa 1.54 9 Skil-Shimano 1.55 10 Team Bridgestone Anchor 1.57 11 Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello 3.01 12 Stegcomputer-CKT-Cogeas 13 Nalsima Frend 14 Team JBCF 15 Matrix Powertag 11.17 16 Team Comrade Giant 20.00 General classification after stage 2 1 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 6.00.17 2 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 0.05 3 Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 0.17 4 Hyo Suk Gong (Kor) Seoul Cycling 0.30 5 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 0.32 6 Devis Miorin (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 0.34 7 Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 8 Alexandre Aulas (Fra) A-Style Somn 9 Mariusz Witecki (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 10 Jai Crawford (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 0.37 11 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 12 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 13 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 14 Rhys Pollock (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 1.03 15 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 1.31 16 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 1.35 17 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 1.36 18 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 19 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 1.38 20 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 1.39 21 Alberto Di Lorenzo (Ita) A-Style Somn 22 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 23 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 1.40 24 Robert Rodosz (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 1.41 25 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 26 Ikki Yoneyama (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 27 Wojciech Pawlak (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 28 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 29 Sano Junya (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 30 Timo Albiez (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 31 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 32 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 33 Yoshimitsu Hiratsuka (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 34 Kenta Onoguchi (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 35 Seok Kyu Suh (Kor) Seoul Cycling 36 Takashi Nakayama (Jpn) Team JBCF 37 Ki Hong Yoo (Kor) Seoul Cycling 38 Rogelio Carvalho (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 39 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 40 Piotr Chmielewski (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 41 Keita Iwashima (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 42 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 43 Takayuki Naganuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 44 Yoshiyuki Shimizu (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 45 Yosuke Kojima (Jpn) Team JBCF 46 Vicenzo Garofalo (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 47 Gu Hyeon Kim (Kor) Seoul Cycling 48 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 49 Kohei Tsusue (Jpn) Team JBCF 50 Tetsuya Fujioka (Jpn) Team JBCF 51 Dimitri Jiriakov (Lie) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 52 Keisuke Kamata (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 53 Simone Bruson (Ita) A-Style Somn 54 Michael Haiser (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 55 Makoto Nakamura (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 56 Yoshimasa Hirose (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 57 Naoki Mukaigawa (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 58 Kaoru Obata (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 59 Genta Nakamura (Jpn) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 60 Yasuhiro Nito (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 2.00 61 Maxim Gourov (Kaz) A-Style Somn 62 Masafumi Yamane (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 2.08 63 Marcin Gebka (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 2.33 64 Simon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 65 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 2.58 66 Hideya Akiyama (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 3.23 67 Masafumi Nishitani (Jpn) Team JBCF 4.39 68 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 5.29 69 Kenichi Suzuki (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 70 Kazunari Asano (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 9.19 71 Sung Baek Park (Kor) Seoul Cycling 9.57 72 Shota Saito (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 73 Daisuke Hioki (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 74 Aristide Ratti (Ita) A-Style Somn 10.02 75 Sylvain Georges (Fra) A-Style Somn 10.05 76 Masaru Fukuhara (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 10.07 77 Tomoyuki Kaneda (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 10.59 78 Mitsuhiro Matsumura (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 79 Won Jae Lee (Kor) Seoul Cycling 12.26 80 Akira Kodan (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 12.50 81 Peter Andres (Swi) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 13.52 82 Yoshiaki Sudou (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 21.24 83 Benjamin Stauder (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 33.48 84 Masayuki Kimura (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 33.52 85 Marco Weilenmann (Swi) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 86 Masaki Hirabayashi (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 87 Hiroshi Nara (Jpn) Team JBCF 88 Ikuo Hosoki (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 89 Asa Eazu (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 90 William Ford (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 91 Mark Jamieson (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 92 Tomoya Sano (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 35.19 Points 1 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 15 pts 2 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 15 3 Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 13 4 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 12 5 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 12 6 Benjamin Stauder (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 10 7 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 8 8 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 8 9 Hyo Suk Gong (Kor) Seoul Cycling 8 10 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 8 11 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 6 12 Sung Baek Park (Kor) Seoul Cycling 6 13 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 5 14 Alexandre Aulas (Fra) A-Style Somn 5 15 Robert Rodosz (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 5 16 Devis Miorin (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 4 17 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 4 18 Aristide Ratti (Ita) A-Style Somn 4 19 Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 3 20 Marcin Gebka (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 3 21 Mariusz Witecki (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 2 22 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 2 23 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 2 24 Jai Crawford (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 1 25 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 1 Mountains 1 Jai Crawford (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 2 pts 2 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 4 3 Mariusz Witecki (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 5 4 Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 6 5 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 13 Teams 1 South Australia.com-AIS 18.02.53 2 Nippo-Endeka 0.36 3 Aisan Racing Team 0.50 4 Trek-Marco Polo Cycling Team 1.19 5 Seoul Cycling 1.50 6 Meitan Hompo-GDR 1.52 7 A-Style Somn 8 Mroz Action Uniqa 1.54 9 Skil-Shimano 1.55 10 Team Bridgestone Anchor 1.57 11 Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello 3.01 12 Stegcomputer-Ckt-Cogeas 13 Nalsima Frend 14 Team JBCF 15 Matrix Powertag 11.17 16 Team Comrade Giant 20.00
