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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 4 - May 21: Shimohisakata circuit race, 155.3km
Clarke takes third stage victory for Australia
By Miwako Sasaki
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SouthAustralia.com-AIS's Simon Clarke took the 4th stage of the Tour of Japan in Miniami Shinshu over a hilly circuit ahead of Japanese champion Yukiya Arashiro (Meitan Hompo-GDR). The U23 Australian champion was too strong for Arashiro nad team-mate Cameron Meyer in the sprint to the line. Overnight leader Wesley Sulzberger (South Australia.com-AIS) finished fifth on the stage to hold on to his overall lead by just one second to Meyer.
"It was basically five kilometres up, five kilometres down and two kilometres across," said Clarke. "It was bloody hard and everyone was so tired at the finish it was more of a grovel for the finish line than a sprint.
"I stayed away over the top of the climb, but with about five kilometres to go I got caught by a group of around a dozen riders, including Wes (Sulzberger) and Cam (Meyer). That gave us the manpower to go with all the last ditch attacks and in the end I managed to score the win."
Team Director Brian Stephens said the aim today was to defend the positions of Sulzberger and Meyer by going on the attack and that tactic paid off for Clarke at the finish.
"Simon didn't have to do any work in the break because he was protecting our lead," said Stephens. "That meant he had pretty fresh legs at the end when the break had been caught and could go for the win."
How it unfolded
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90 riders started from Iida station in Minami Shinshu under clear skies. At 10 laps to go, Japanese rider Takashi Miyazawa, a stage winner last year, attacked from the peloton quickly building a 30 second advantage. He was joined by Clarke, Maxim Gourov (A-Style Somn), Vincenzo Garofalo (Nippo-Endeka), Yoshiyiki Abe (Skil-Shimano) and the blue point jersey Taiji Nishitani (Aisan Racing Team) with nine laps to go.
With three laps remaining the gap from the leaders to the peloton was still hovering at one minute. Garofalo accelerated on the climb with Clarke the only one able to follow. The two leaders had an advantage of 1'30 back to the chase group, but as they began the final lap, only Clarke was able to maintain the pace, leading the race alone.
The chase group of 11 riders, including race leader Sulzberger, finally caught Clarke during the final lap. After leaving the hilly circuit for the flat finale mountain's leader, Arashiro attacked the group with one kilometre to go, but Clarke was stuck to his wheel like glue and easily passed him to take the stage.
Tour of Japan has a transfer day tomorrow and the rider will try to the individual mountain time trial of 11.4 km in Mount Fuji on Friday. The average of the gradient is 10.5 %.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Hitoshi Omae/PhotoSport International UK, USA, ASIA
- The peloton rolls away from the start line in Nagano - home of the 1998 Winter Olympics.
- Sweeping bends and mountain scenery on stage four.
- And plenty of suffering in the Japanese mountains.
- Takashi Miyazawa (Meitan Hompo-GDR) takes off at one of the intermediate sprints.
- The six man breakaway with Alberto Di Lorenzo (A-Style) on the front.
- Simon Clarke (SouthAustralia.com-AIS) and Vicenzo Garofalo (Nippo-Endeka) we both part of the day's winning break.
- Simon Clarke (SouthAustralia.com-AIS) takes his team's third victory at the Tour of Japan.
- Traditional Japanese head gear for the winner.
- Race leader Wes Sulzberger (SouthAustralia.com-AIS) has a one second lead over team-mate Simon Clarke.
Results
1 Simon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 3.53.27 2 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 3 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 4 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 5 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 6 Alberto Di Lorenzo (Ita) A-Style Somn 7 Vicenzo Garofalo (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 8 Hyo Suk Gong (Kor) Seoul Cycling 9 Mariusz Witecki (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 10 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 11 Jai Crawford (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 12 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 0.12 13 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 1.01 14 Alexandre Aulas (Fra) A-Style Somn 15 Timo Albiez (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 16 Rhys Pollock (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 17 Seok Kyu Suh (Kor) Seoul Cycling 18 Keisuke Kamata (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 19 Takayuki Naganuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 20 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 21 Simone Bruson (Ita) A-Style Somn 22 Robert Rodosz (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 23 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 24 Devis Miorin (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 25 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 26 Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 1.52 27 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 28 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 29 Keita Iwashima (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 30 Yoshiyuki Shimizu (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 31 Yoshimitsu Hiratsuka (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 32 Michael Haiser (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 33 Masaki Hirabayashi (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 34 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 2.45 35 Wojciech Pawlak (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 36 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 37 Tetsuya Fujioka (Jpn) Team JBCF 38 Ki Hong Yoo (Kor) Seoul Cycling 39 Kenichi Suzuki (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 40 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 2.55 41 Piotr Chmielewski (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 8.36 42 Naoki Mukaigawa (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 10.20 43 Aristide Ratti (Ita) A-Style Somn 44 Maxim Gourov (Kaz) A-Style Somn 45 Won Jae Lee (Kor) Seoul Cycling 46 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 47 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 12.36 48 Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 49 Hideya Akiyama (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 50 Sung Baek Park (Kor) Seoul Cycling 13.19 51 Gu Hyeon Kim (Kor) Seoul Cycling 16.42 52 Kaoru Obata (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 17.01 53 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 54 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 55 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 56 Yoshimasa Hirose (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 57 Tomoya Sano (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 58 Kohei Tsusue (Jpn) Team JBCF 59 Yosuke Kojima (Jpn) Team JBCF 60 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 61 Kenta Onoguchi (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 62 Takashi Nakayama (Jpn) Team JBCF 63 Ikki Yoneyama (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 64 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 65 Masayuki Kimura (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 66 Masafumi Nishitani (Jpn) Team JBCF 67 Daisuke Hioki (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 68 Marcin Gebka (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 69 Yasuhiro Nito (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 70 Peter Andres (Swi) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 71 Masafumi Yamane (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 72 Sano Junya (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 73 Kazunari Asano (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 74 Makoto Nakamura (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 75 Genta Nakamura (Jpn) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 76 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 77 Sylvain Georges (Fra) A-Style Somn 21.44 78 William Ford (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 41.44 79 Rogelio Carvalho (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 80 Marco Weilenmann (Swi) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 81 Yoshiaki Sudou (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 82 Asa Eazu (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 83 Benjamin Stauder (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 84 Ikuo Hosoki (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 85 Hiroshi Nara (Jpn) Team JBCF 86 Tomoyuki Kaneda (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant DNF Mitsuhiro Matsumura (Jpn) Matrix Powertag DNF Masaru Fukuhara (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor DNF Mark Jamieson (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS DNF Dimitri Jiriakov (Lie) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas General classification after stage 4 1 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 13.28.05 2 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 0.01 3 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 0.26 4 Hyo Suk Gong (Kor) Seoul Cycling 0.30 5 Mariusz Witecki (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 0.34 6 Jai Crawford (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 0.37 7 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 1.29 8 Alberto Di Lorenzo (Ita) A-Style Somn 1.39 9 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 1.41 10 Vicenzo Garofalo (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 11 Devis Miorin (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 1.54 12 Alexandre Aulas (Fra) A-Style Somn 13 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 1.57 14 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 2.07 15 Rhys Pollock (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 2.23 16 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 2.24 17 Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 2.28 18 Robert Rodosz (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 2.38 19 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 2.42 20 Simon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 21 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 2.46 22 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 2.48 23 Timo Albiez (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 3.01 24 Seok Kyu Suh (Kor) Seoul Cycling 25 Takayuki Naganuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 26 Keisuke Kamata (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 27 Simone Bruson (Ita) A-Style Somn 28 Yoshimitsu Hiratsuka (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 3.52 29 Keita Iwashima (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 30 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 31 Michael Haiser (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 4.00 32 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 4.23 33 Wojciech Pawlak (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 4.26 34 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 4.40 35 Ki Hong Yoo (Kor) Seoul Cycling 4.45 36 Tetsuya Fujioka (Jpn) Team JBCF 37 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 4.53 38 Kenichi Suzuki (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 8.45 39 Piotr Chmielewski (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 10.36 40 Yoshiyuki Shimizu (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 11.47 41 Maxim Gourov (Kaz) A-Style Somn 12.39 42 Naoki Mukaigawa (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 13.23 43 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 13.37 44 Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 13.41 45 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 14.36 46 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 17.38 47 Hideya Akiyama (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 18.01 48 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 18.51 49 Gu Hyeon Kim (Kor) Seoul Cycling 18.54 50 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 18.59 51 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 19.01 52 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 53 Kenta Onoguchi (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 54 Takashi Nakayama (Jpn) Team JBCF 55 Sano Junya (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 56 Yoshimasa Hirose (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 57 Yosuke Kojima (Jpn) Team JBCF 58 Makoto Nakamura (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 59 Kaoru Obata (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 19.12 60 Kohei Tsusue (Jpn) Team JBCF 19.13 61 Masafumi Yamane (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 19.28 62 Marcin Gebka (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 19.53 63 Aristide Ratti (Ita) A-Style Somn 20.41 64 Genta Nakamura (Jpn) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 21.19 65 Masafumi Nishitani (Jpn) Team JBCF 22.11 66 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 22.49 67 Won Jae Lee (Kor) Seoul Cycling 23.05 68 Ikki Yoneyama (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 26.56 69 Sung Baek Park (Kor) Seoul Cycling 31.33 70 Sylvain Georges (Fra) A-Style Somn 34.53 71 Daisuke Hioki (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 35.12 72 Masaki Hirabayashi (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 36.03 73 Peter Andres (Swi) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 39.07 74 Rogelio Carvalho (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 43.44 75 Masayuki Kimura (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 51.12 76 Yasuhiro Nito (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 55.22 77 Tomoyuki Kaneda (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 1.00.57 78 Kazunari Asano (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 1.02.41 79 Yoshiaki Sudou (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 1.11.22 80 William Ford (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 1.16.07 81 Benjamin Stauder (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 1.23.46 82 Asa Eazu (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 1.23.50 83 Marco Weilenmann (Swi) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 1.25.35 84 Tomoya Sano (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 1.28.41 85 Ikuo Hosoki (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 1.31.57 86 Hiroshi Nara (Jpn) Team JBCF 1.51.57 Points classification 1 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 32 pts 2 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 29 3 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 27 4 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 19 5 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 17 6 Simon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 15 7 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 15 8 Robert Rodosz (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 15 9 Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 13 10 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 11 11 Hyo Suk Gong (Kor) Seoul Cycling 11 12 Benjamin Stauder (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 10 13 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 8 14 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 8 15 Vicenzo Garofalo (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 8 16 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 8 17 Alberto Di Lorenzo (Ita) A-Style Somn 7 18 Sung Baek Park (Kor) Seoul Cycling 6 19 Alexandre Aulas (Fra) A-Style Somn 5 20 Mariusz Witecki (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 4 21 Devis Miorin (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 4 22 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 4 23 Aristide Ratti (Ita) A-Style Somn 4 24 Wojciech Pawlak (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 3 25 Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 3 26 Marcin Gebka (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 3 27 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 2 28 Jai Crawford (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 1 29 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 1 30 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 1 Mountains classification 1 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 22 pts 2 Vicenzo Garofalo (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 22 3 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 10 4 Hyo Suk Gong (Kor) Seoul Cycling 8 5 Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 6 6 Mariusz Witecki (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 5 7 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 4 8 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 3 9 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 3 10 Simon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 3 11 Jai Crawford (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 2 12 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 2 Teams classification 1 South Australia .com-AIS 40.26.36 2 Nippo-Endeka 2.08 3 Aisan Racing Team 3.47 4 Skil-Shimano 3.57 5 A-Style Somn 4.13 6 Meitan Hompo-GDR 5.12 7 Mroz Action Uniqa 5.21 8 Seoul Cycling 5.55 9 Trek-Marco Polo Cycling Team 12.59 10 Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello 23.33 11 Stegcomputer-CKT-Cogeas 31.36 12 Team Bridgestone Anchor 37.19 13 Nalsima Frend 39.33 14 Team JBCF 40.26 15 Matrix Powertag 1.05.15 16 Team Comrade Giant 1.29.10
