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7th Tour of Japan - 2.5
Japan, May 19-26, 2002
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Stage 4 - May 24: Twin Ring Motegi (Motegi), 148.56 km
Scheirlinckx stays in green, Ganser takes stage 4
By Miwako Sasaki, Japanese Cycle Sport
German Stefan Ganser (Team Comnet-Senges) won the 4th stage of the 7th Tour of Japan, beating Mateusz Mroz (Mroz) and Marcel Luppes (AXA-VVZ) in a bunch sprint.
84 riders started on the Motegi motor racing circuit, where they had to do 12 laps. The weather was fine and the peloton remained together. Dutch Tjarco Cuppens (Team Comnet-Senges), wearer of the yellow sprints jersey, won the first sprint at 9 laps to go, in front of Mateusz Mroz (Mroz) and Kazakh Alexandr Dymovskikh.
At the second sprint at 6 laps to go, Cuppens also got first place and kept his jersey, Kazimiesz Stafiej was 2nd, and Stefan Ganser was 3rd. At 3 laps to go, Japanese Junichi Shibuya (Team Bridgestone Anchor) crossed first on in the third and final sprint in front of Australian Adrian Laidler and Pawel Zugaj (Mroz).
Shibuya and Laidler then broke away from the peloton, building a 1'00 advantage with 2 laps to go. But the pair were caught by the peloton on the final lap, and Stefan Ganser dominated the bunch sprint.
After three teams from three different countries won the first three stages (1st stage for Axa, 2nd Stage for RDM-Flanders, and 3rd stage for Mroz), the fourth stage was also taken by another team (Team Comnet-Senges). The race leader Bert Scheirlinckx (RDM-Flanders) finished in the peloton and kept his green leader's jersey.
Tomorrow is the final hilly stage in Utsunomiya, and five riders including Olexandr Klymenko (Mroz) are still only 1'00 behind Scheirlinckx, so the final winner will be determined there. The Mroz team especially is aiming for a repeat victory. But in the history of the Tour of Japan, the race leader has changed at Utsunomiya.
Results
1 Stefan Ganser (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges 3.31.10 2 Mateusz Mroz (Pol) Mroz 3 Marcel Luppes (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team 4 Gene Bates (Aus) Australian National Team 5 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 6 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi 7 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 8 Wolfram Wiese (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges 9 David Chassot (Swi) Team Jura Suisse 10 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) RDM-Flanders 11 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo 12 Oleksandr Klymenko (Ukr) Mroz 13 Hisafumi Imanishi (Jpn) Shimano Racing 14 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo 15 Scott Davis (Aus) Australian National Team 16 Hans-Jurgen Juretzek (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges 17 Kairat Baigudinov (Kaz) Team Orbea Etxeondo 18 Koki Shimbo (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing 19 Tetsuya Okada (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 20 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 21 Mitsuteru Tanaka (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing 22 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team 23 Kam Po Wong (Hkg) Hong Kong National Team 24 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Shimano Racing 25 Bakhtiyr Mamyrov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 26 Zbigniew Wyrzykowski (Pol) Mroz 27 Florian Ludi (Swi) Team Jura Suisse 28 Tjarco Cuppens (Ned) Team Comnet-Senges 29 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Shimano Racing 30 Simone Mori (Swi) Team Jura Suisse 31 Kazimierz Stafiej (Pol) Mroz 32 Pavel Nevdakh (Kaz) Team Orbea Etxeondo 0.11 33 Ikki Yoneyama (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi 0.36 34 Stijn Vanstraelen (Bel) RDM-Flanders 0.00 35 Suhardi Hassan (Mas) Malaysia National Team 0.48 36 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team 0.50 37 Guiseppe Ribolzi (Swi) Team Jura Suisse 38 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo 39 Jurgen Landrie (Bel) RDM-Flanders 40 Viktor Shestakov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 41 David Plas (Bel) RDM-Flanders 42 Ngai Ching Wong (Hkg) Hong Kong National Team 43 Yusuke Takahashi (Jpn) Team Orbea Etxeondo 44 Nor.Effendy Rosli (Mas) Malaysia National Team 45 Kentaro Eshita (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing 46 Teruo Iida (Jpn) Team Orbea Etxeondo 47 Hideto Yukinari (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team 48 David Mcpartland (Aus) Australian National Team 49 Axel Hauschke (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges 50 Makoto Takeuchi (Jpn) Team Orbea Etxeondo 51 Kaoru Ouchi (Jpn) Shimano Racing 0.56 52 Edward Dunning (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team 53 Markus Ganser (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges 54 Koichi Asano (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team 55 Shinji Suzuki (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing 56 Yasuki Uchiyama (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team 57 Pawel Niedzwiecki (Pol) Mroz 58 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 59 Tomokazu Fujino (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 60 David Pell (Aus) Australian National Team 61 Danny Stam (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team 1.03 62 Junichi Shibuya (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 63 Peep Mikli (Est) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team 64 Takumi Beppu (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo 1.14 65 Takehiro Mizutani (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 0.00 66 Yoshimasa Hirose (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 1.23 67 Ah.Thiam Wong (Mas) Malaysia National Team 1.43 68 Adrian Laidler (Aus) Australian National Team 1.54 69 Taiji Tanaka (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi 1.58 70 Jan Hordijk (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team 2.55 71 Jun Otsuka (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team 3.10 72 Pawel Zugaj (Pol) Mroz 3.14 73 Alexandr Dymovskikh (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 74 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Shimano Racing 3.23 75 Nico Indekeu (Bel) RDM-Flanders 3.40 76 Marco Engels (Bel) RDM-Flanders 77 Michel Klinger (Swi) Team Jura Suisse 78 King Nin Lau (Hkg) Hong Kong National Team 4.02 79 Kazutaka Fukao (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi 7.02 General classification after stage 4 1 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) RDM-Flanders 13.48.08 2 Kam Po Wong (Hkg) Hong Kong National Team 0.51 3 Simone Mori (Swi) Team Jura Suisse 0.54 4 Florian Ludi (Swi) Team Jura Suisse 0.57 5 Oleksandr Klymenko (Ukr) Mroz 1.00 6 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 1.01 7 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Shimano Racing 1.43 8 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team 1.55 9 Wolfram Wiese (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges 1.57 10 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 2.00 11 Hans-Jurgen Juretzek (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges 2.00 12 Mateusz Mroz (Pol) Mroz 2.03 13 Kazimierz Stafiej (Pol) Mroz 2.06 14 Scott Davis (Aus) Australian National Team 2.10 15 Tetsuya Okada (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 2.11 16 Hisafumi Imanishi (Jpn) Shimano Racing 2.13 17 Kairat Baigudinov (Kaz) Team Orbea Etxeondo 2.13 18 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Shimano Racing 2.20 19 Koki Shimbo (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing 2.25 20 Pavel Nevdakh (Kaz) Team Orbea Etxeondo 2.41 21 David Mcpartland (Aus) Australian National Team 3.27 22 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 3.40 23 Mitsuteru Tanaka (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing 4.37 24 Takehiro Mizutani (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 4.44 25 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo 4.45 26 David Chassot (Swi) Team Jura Suisse 4.56 27 Markus Ganser (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges 5.07 28 Bakhtiyr Mamyrov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 5.11 29 Gene Bates (Aus) Australian National Team 5.50 30 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 6.16 31 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi 7.03 32 Edward Dunning (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Tea 9.11 33 Adrian Laidler (Aus) Australian National Team 9.33 34 Zbigniew Wyrzykowski (Pol) Mroz 10.23 35 Pawel Niedzwiecki (Pol) Mroz 11.21 36 Alexandr Dymovskikh (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 11.29 37 Hideto Yukinari (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team 12.04 38 Michel Klinger (Swi) Team Jura Suisse 14.16 39 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo 14.20 40 David Plas (Bel) RDM-Flanders 15.13 41 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team 15.36 42 Takumi Beppu (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo 15.47 43 Stefan Ganser (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges 17.19 44 Jurgen Landrie (Bel) RDM-Flanders 17.40 45 Yusuke Takahashi (Jpn) Team Orbea Etxeondo 18.44 46 Nor.Effendy Rosli (Mas) Malaysia National Team 21.23 47 Stijn Vanstraelen (Bel) RDM-Flanders 23.32 48 Viktor Shestakov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 24.16 49 Ikki Yoneyama (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi 25.40 50 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo 25.42 51 Axel Hauschke (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges 26.24 52 Junichi Shibuya (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 26.44 53 Guiseppe Ribolzi (Swi) Team Jura Suisse 26.54 54 Kaoru Ouchi (Jpn) Shimano Racing 27.40 55 Shinji Suzuki (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing 27.48 56 Tomokazu Fujino (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 28.04 57 Yasuki Uchiyama (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team 28.07 58 Marco Engels (Bel) RDM-Flanders 28.09 59 Tjarco Cuppens (Ned) Team Comnet-Senges 28.29 60 Yoshimasa Hirose (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 28.52 61 Pawel Zugaj (Pol) Mroz 29.14 62 Taiji Tanaka (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi 29.26 63 Kentaro Eshita (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing 29.46 64 Nico Indekeu (Bel) RDM-Flanders 29.47 65 Jan Hordijk (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team 30.17 66 Peep Mikli (Est) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team 31.01 67 Teruo Iida (Jpn) Team Orbea Etxeondo 31.31 68 David Pell (Aus) Australian National Team 32.01 69 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Shimano Racing 32.20 70 Marcel Luppes (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team 32.25 71 King Nin Lau (Hkg) Hong Kong National Team 34.31 72 Suhardi Hassan (Mas) Malaysia National Team 36.58 73 Koichi Asano (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team 37.01 74 Jun Otsuka (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team 38.24 75 Ngai Ching Wong (Hkg) Hong Kong National Team 41.01 76 Makoto Takeuchi (Jpn) Team Orbea Etxeondo 42.20 77 Ah.Thiam Wong (Mas) Malaysia National Team 44.58 78 Danny Stam (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team 47.32 79 Kazutaka Fukao (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi 53.17 Points classification 1 Stefan Ganser (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges 6 pts 2 Kam Po Wong (Hkg) Hong Kong National Team 6 3 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) RDM-Flanders 5 4 Oleksandr Klymenko (Ukr) Mroz 5 5 Jan Hordijk (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team 5 6 Simone Mori (Swi) Team Jura Suisse 4 7 Mateusz Mroz (Pol) Mroz 4 8 Pawel Niedzwiecki (Pol) Mroz 4 9 Stijn Vanstraelen (Bel) RDM-Flanders 4 10 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Shimano Racing 4 11 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi 3 12 Marcel Luppes (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team 3 13 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 2 14 Gene Bates (Aus) Australian National Team 2 15 Florian Ludi (Swi) Team Jura Suisse 1 16 Wolfram Wiese (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges 1 17 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 1 Mountains classification 1 Oleksandr Klymenko (Ukr) Mroz 12 pts 2 Kazimierz Stafiej (Pol) Mroz 12 3 Pawel Niedzwiecki (Pol) Mroz 6 4 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) RDM-Flanders 5 5 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Shimano Racing 5 6 Simone Mori (Swi) Team Jura Suisse 4 7 Scott Davis (Aus) Australian National Team 2 8 Koki Shimbo (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing 1 9 Gene Bates (Aus) Australian National Team 1 Sprints classification 1 Tjarco Cuppens (Ned) Team Comnet-Senges 17 pts 2 Takehiro Mizutani (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 5 3 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi 5 4 Junichi Shibuya (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 5 5 Mateusz Mroz (Pol) Mroz 4 6 Kazimierz Stafiej (Pol) Mroz 2 7 Adrian Laidler (Aus) Australian National Team 2 8 Zbigniew Wyrzykowski (Pol) Mroz 2 9 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 2 10 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team 1 11 Stefan Ganser (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges 1 12 Kaoru Ouchi (Jpn) Shimano Racing 1 13 Pawel Zugaj (Pol) Mroz 1 Teams classification 1 Mroz 41.28.20 2 Shimano Racing 2.20 3 Team Jura Suisse 2.46 4 Team Comnet-Senges 3.54 5 Team Bridgestone-Anchor 4.59 6 Kazakhstan 5.55 7 Australia 6.34 8 Aisan-Ind.Racing 16.29 9 Team Orbea Etxe-Ondo 16.34 10 Miyata-Subaru Racing Team 25.39 11 Rdm Flanders 28.00 12 Rt.Nippon Hodo 30.32 13 Sumita Ravanello Pearlizumi 58.13 14 Axa-Vvz 59.31 15 Hong Kong 1.00.56 16 Malaysia 1.39.23
