7th Tour of Japan - 2.5

Japan, May 19-26, 2002

Main Page Results Photography Previous stage

Stage 6 - May 26: Hibiya - Ooi Wharf Circuit (Tokyo), 155.1 km

Klymenko beats Mori in dramatic finish

By Miwako Sasaki, Japanese Cycle Sport

Suzuki caps it off
Photo: © Sasaki

Ukrainian Olexandr Klymenko (Mroz) won the 7th Tour of Japan, after a dramatic reversal from Italian Simone Mori (Team Jura Suisse), who had 6" advantage in the general classification going into the final stage. That was won by Japanese Shinri Suzuki (Shimano Racing Team), who took the final sprint from Maxim Iglinskiy (Kazakhstan) and Makoto Iijima (Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi)

79 riders started the final stage in Tokyo under blue skies. The weather was very fine and the temperature was around 30 degrees. From Hibiya city to Ooi Wharf, the first 18.6 km was neutralized for traffic reasons. Then, the peloton started the race on the 10.5 km circuit in Ooi Wharf (13 laps).

At the start of the race with 13 laps to go, last year's TOJ winner Pawel Niedzwiecki (Mroz) attacked from the peloton taking Japanese Yasuki Uchiyama (Miyata-Subaru Racing Team) and Satoshi Hirose (Nippon Hodo Racing Team) with him. The three riders took 1'00 advantage with 11 laps to go.

At 9 laps to go, Kazakh Pawel Nevdakh (Team Orbea Etxondo) attacked, and was chasing the trio at 1'20" behind with the Jura Suisse controlled peloton another 30 seconds behind. With 7 laps to go, the advantage of the three riders was 45" to Nevdakh and 3'15" to the peloton, which was not being controlled now, causing several riders to try and attack.

At 6 laps to go, Nevdakh caught the three riders and then he attacked with Niedzwiecki, although the peloton tried to reel them in now. At 4 laps to go, the two riders still had 30" to the peloton, but then six riders including Klymenko who wore the blue points jersey and was only 6" behind leader Mori, attacked from the peloton and caught the two front riders.

Now there were 10 riders in the first group, including Klymenko, Pawel Zugaj (Mroz), Bert Scheirlinckx (RDM-Flanders) , Peep Mikli (Axa-VVz) , Nevdakh, Kazakh Maxim Iglinskiy, and Japanese Suzuki. Niedzwiecki finished his job today, and dropped back behind the peloton.

The first group kept 30" advantage to the peloton, where Mori and his Jura Suisse team tried hard to catch them, but they couldn't do it. Although Klymenko, who is a vice-world track champion of team pursuit in 1997, continued to accelerate in front of the first group, Suzuki won the final bunch sprint.

"I didn't know whether I could win on the bunch sprint, because there were a lot of white lines, like the finish line on the course..." said Suzuki after the race. ,p> He was the second stage winner of the race after Fukushima (Team Bridgestone Anchor) who won the stage yesterday. "Japanese Bonzai!!" said Suzuki, bearing in mind all the Japanese cycling supporters today.

Klymenko, the 27 year old Ukrainian, won the red mountains jersey and the blue points jersey, as well as the green leader jersey. The ex-track rider rode in Italy as an amateur in 2000, and so he can speak Italian. He joined Mikomax-Browar Staropolski, a Polish TT3 team last year, and came 4th in the Baltik-Karkonosze Tour last year, and turned professional at Mroz this year. This is second victory of his career, after he won a tough third stage last Wednesday.

"Without a support of my team, I couldn't win today," said Klymenko after the race with a big smile.

Photography

Photos courtesy Miwako Sasaki

Riders gather for the stage start.
Team Jura Suisse's train leads the bunch, trying to capture the leader's jersey in the final stage.
The final break manages to stay away from the main bunch.
Shinichi Fukushima (Team Bridgestone Anchor) leads the breakaways.
Riders from the Kazakstanian team stop for drinks after the race.
The boys from MROZ unwind after the stage.
Scott Davis (Australian National Team) fakes an injury for a free ride...
Shinri Suzuki (Shimano Racing) brings his daughter on the podium to share his stage win.
Oleksandr Klymenko (Mroz) on the podium wearing his points jersey.
Oleksandr Klymenko (Mroz) changes into the green GC winners jersey.
Oleksandr Klymenko (Mroz) in his Mountains classification jersey.
Team MROZ celebrate a very successful show in the Tour.
Tjarco Cuppens (Team Comnet-Senges) claims the sprint classification.

Results

1 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Shimano Racing                      3.30.24
2 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team
3 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi
4 Peep Mikli (Est) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team
5 Oleksandr Klymenko (Ukr) Mroz
6 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) RDM-Flanders
7 Hideto Yukinari (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team
8 Koki Shimbo (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing
9 Pavel Nevdakh (Kaz) Team Orbea Etxeondo                    0.02
10 Pawel Zugaj (Pol) Mroz                                    0.04
11 Takehiro Mizutani (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor           0.32
12 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Shimano Racing
13 Zbigniew Wyrzykowski (Pol) Mroz
14 Stijn Vanstraelen (Bel) RDM-Flanders
15 Kazimierz Stafiej (Pol) Mroz
16 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo
17 Stefan Ganser (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges
18 Jan Hordijk (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team
19 Ikki Yoneyama (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi
20 Kentaro Eshita (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing
21 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team
22 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor
23 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo
24 Takumi Beppu (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo
25 Nor.Effendy Rosli (Mas) Malaysia National Team
26 King Nin Lau (Hkg) Hong Kong National Team
27 Gene Bates (Aus) Australian National Team
28 Alexandr Dymovskikh (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team
29 Suhardi Hassan (Mas) Malaysia National Team
30 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team
31 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team
32 Kam Po Wong (Hkg) Hong Kong National Team
33 Yusuke Takahashi (Jpn) Team Orbea Etxeondo
34 Taiji Tanaka (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi
35 David Mcpartland (Aus) Australian National Team
36 Ngai Ching Wong (Hkg) Hong Kong National Team
37 Teruo Iida (Jpn) Team Orbea Etxeondo
38 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team
39 Bakhtiyr Mamyrov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team
40 Hisafumi Imanishi (Jpn) Shimano Racing
41 David Plas (Bel) RDM-Flanders
42 Mitsuteru Tanaka (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing
43 Scott Davis (Aus) Australian National Team
44 Jun Otsuka (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team
45 Kairat Baigudinov (Kaz) Team Orbea Etxeondo
46 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Shimano Racing
47 Shinji Suzuki (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing
48 Jurgen Landrie (Bel) RDM-Flanders
49 Mateusz Mroz (Pol) Mroz
50 Marcel Luppes (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team
51 Simone Mori (Swi) Team Jura Suisse
52 Wolfram Wiese (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges
53 Hans-Jurgen Juretzek (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges
54 Markus Ganser (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges
55 Tjarco Cuppens (Ned) Team Comnet-Senges
56 Ah.Thiam Wong (Mas) Malaysia National Team
57 Koichi Asano (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team
58 Axel Hauschke (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges
59 Viktor Shestakov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team
60 Tetsuya Okada (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor
61 Adrian Laidler (Aus) Australian National Team
62 Edward Dunning (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team
63 Danny Stam (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team
64 Nico Indekeu (Bel) RDM-Flanders
65 Kaoru Ouchi (Jpn) Shimano Racing                          0.48
66 David Pell (Aus) Australian National Team
67 Yoshimasa Hirose (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor
68 Michel Klinger (Swi) Team Jura Suisse
69 David Chassot (Swi) Team Jura Suisse                      1.19
70 Marco Engels (Bel) RDM-Flanders
71 Guiseppe Ribolzi (Swi) Team Jura Suisse                   3.08
72 Florian Ludi (Swi) Team Jura Suisse                       4.08
73 Junichi Shibuya (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor
74 Tomokazu Fujino (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor
75 Kazutaka Fukao (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi           5.45
76 Makoto Takeuchi (Jpn) Team Orbea Etxeondo                13.01
77 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo                       14.48
78 Pawel Niedzwiecki (Pol) Mroz                             15.37
79 Yasuki Uchiyama (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team          15.57
 
Final general classification
 
1 Oleksandr Klymenko (Ukr) Mroz                          21.31.36
2 Simone Mori (Swi) Team Jura Suisse                         0.26
3 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) RDM-Flanders                       0.34
4 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team             1.29
5 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor           1.32
6 Kam Po Wong (Hkg) Hong Kong National Team                  1.57
7 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Shimano Racing                         2.07
8 Kazimierz Stafiej (Pol) Mroz                               2.30
9 Pavel Nevdakh (Kaz) Team Orbea Etxeondo                    2.42
10 Scott Davis (Aus) Australian National Team                2.51
11 Wolfram Wiese (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges                    2.57
12 Koki Shimbo (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing                       2.59
13 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team           3.01
14 Mateusz Mroz (Pol) Mroz                                   3.09
15 Hisafumi Imanishi (Jpn) Shimano Racing                    3.19
16 Kairat Baigudinov (Kaz) Team Orbea Etxeondo               3.19
17 David Mcpartland (Aus) Australian National Team           4.33
18 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team              4.46
19 Hans-Jurgen Juretzek (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges             5.23
20 Mitsuteru Tanaka (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing                  5.47
21 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo                        8.35
22 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Shimano Racing
23 Tetsuya Okada (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor              10.35
24 Florian Ludi (Swi) Team Jura Suisse
25 Bakhtiyr Mamyrov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team          11.26
26 Markus Ganser (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges                   13.31
27 Michel Klinger (Swi) Team Jura Suisse                    15.38
28 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team        20.07
29 Gene Bates (Aus) Australian National Team                21.21
30 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi           21.56
31 David Chassot (Swi) Team Jura Suisse                     22.14
32 Takehiro Mizutani (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor          24.15
33 Alexandr Dymovskikh (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team       28.00
34 Edward Dunning (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team   28.42
35 Takumi Beppu (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo                         31.16
36 Adrian Laidler (Aus) Australian National Team            32.04
37 Pawel Niedzwiecki (Pol) Mroz                             32.48
38 Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team       34.07
39 David Plas (Bel) RDM-Flanders                            34.44
40 Hideto Yukinari (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team          35.03
41 Yusuke Takahashi (Jpn) Team Orbea Etxeondo               35.15
42 Stefan Ganser (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges                   35.50
43 Zbigniew Wyrzykowski (Pol) Mroz                          35.54
44 Jurgen Landrie (Bel) RDM-Flanders                        37.11
45 Guiseppe Ribolzi (Swi) Team Jura Suisse                  37.54
46 Viktor Shestakov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team          39.45
47 Nor.Effendy Rosli (Mas) Malaysia National Team           41.54
48 Ikki Yoneyama (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi           42.11
49 Kaoru Ouchi (Jpn) Shimano Racing                         42.34
50 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo                       44.05
51 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo                        45.13
52 Axel Hauschke (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges                   45.55
53 Kentaro Eshita (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing                   46.17
54 Shinji Suzuki (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing                    47.19
55 Tjarco Cuppens (Ned) Team Comnet-Senges                  48.00
56 Pawel Zugaj (Pol) Mroz                                   48.17
57 Marco Engels (Bel) RDM-Flanders                          48.27
58 Yoshimasa Hirose (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor           48.39
59 Taiji Tanaka (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi            48.57
60 Teruo Iida (Jpn) Team Orbea Etxeondo                     49.02
61 Stijn Vanstraelen (Bel) RDM-Flanders                     49.03
62 Nico Indekeu (Bel) RDM-Flanders                          49.18
63 Jan Hordijk (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team      49.48
64 Junichi Shibuya (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor            49.51
65 Tomokazu Fujino (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor            51.11
66 David Pell (Aus) Australian National Team                51.48
67 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Shimano Racing                  51.51
68 Marcel Luppes (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team    51.56
69 Peep Mikli (Est) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team       53.00
70 Suhardi Hassan (Mas) Malaysia National Team              56.29
71 Koichi Asano (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team             56.32
72 King Nin Lau (Hkg) Hong Kong National Team               59.02
73 Ngai Ching Wong (Hkg) Hong Kong National Team          1.00.32
74 Jun Otsuka (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team             1.02.55
75 Yasuki Uchiyama (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team        1.03.03
76 Ah.Thiam Wong (Mas) Malaysia National Team             1.04.29
77 Danny Stam (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team     1.07.03
78 Makoto Takeuchi (Jpn) Team Orbea Etxeondo              1.12.20
79 Kazutaka Fukao (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi        1.21.01
 
Points classification
 
1 Oleksandr Klymenko (Ukr) Mroz                                 9 pts
2 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Shimano Racing                            9
3 Simone Mori (Swi) Team Jura Suisse                            8
4 Stefan Ganser (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges                        6
5 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                6
6 Kam Po Wong (Hkg) Hong Kong National Team                     6
7 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi                6
8 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) RDM-Flanders                          5
9 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor              5
10 Jan Hordijk (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team          5
11 Mateusz Mroz (Pol) Mroz                                      4
12 Pawel Niedzwiecki (Pol) Mroz                                 4
13 Stijn Vanstraelen (Bel) RDM-Flanders                         4
14 Marcel Luppes (Ned) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team        3
15 Kazimierz Stafiej (Pol) Mroz                                 2
16 Gene Bates (Aus) Australian National Team                    2
17 Peep Mikli (Est) AXA-VVZ Professional Cycling Team           2
18 Pavel Nevdakh (Kaz) Team Orbea Etxeondo                      1
19 Wolfram Wiese (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges                       1
20 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                 1
21 Florian Ludi (Swi) Team Jura Suisse                          1
 
Mountains classification
1 Oleksandr Klymenko (Ukr) Mroz                                19 pts
2 Kazimierz Stafiej (Pol) Mroz                                 12
3 Pawel Niedzwiecki (Pol) Mroz                                 11
4 Simone Mori (Swi) Team Jura Suisse                           10
5 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) RDM-Flanders                          5
6 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Shimano Racing                            5
7 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor              3
8 Guiseppe Ribolzi (Swi) Team Jura Suisse                       2
9 Scott Davis (Aus) Australian National Team                    2
10 Koki Shimbo (Jpn) Asian Ind. Racing                          1
11 Gene Bates (Aus) Australian National Team                    1
12 Junichi Shibuya (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                1
 
Sprints classification
 
1 Tjarco Cuppens (Ned) Team Comnet-Senges                      17 pts
2 Pawel Niedzwiecki (Pol) Mroz                                 10
3 Pavel Nevdakh (Kaz) Team Orbea Etxeondo                       6
4 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Sumita-Ravanello-Pealizumi                5
5 Takehiro Mizutani (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor               5
6 Junichi Shibuya (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                 5
7 Mateusz Mroz (Pol) Mroz                                       4
8 Satoshi Hirose (Jpn) RT Nipponhodo                            4
9 Pawel Zugaj (Pol) Mroz                                        3
10 Kazimierz Stafiej (Pol) Mroz                                 2
11 Adrian Laidler (Aus) Australian National Team                2
12 Zbigniew Wyrzykowski (Pol) Mroz                              2
13 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team               2
14 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                 1
15 Hideto Yukinari (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team              1
16 Stefan Ganser (Ger) Team Comnet-Senges                       1
17 Kaoru Ouchi (Jpn) Shimano Racing                             1
18 Yasuki Uchiyama (Jpn) Miyata-Subaru Racing Team              1
 
Teams classification
 
1 Mroz                                                   64.38.46
2 Shimano Racing                                            10.03
3 Team Jura Suisse                                          10.47
4 Kazakhstan                                                13.42
5 Team Comnet-Senges                                        16.39
6 Australia                                                 23.50
7 Team Bridgestone-Anchor                                   32.24
8 Team Orbea Etxe-Ondo                                      34.10
9 Aisan-Ind.Racing                                          34.42
10 Miyata-Subaru Racing Team                              1.04.13
11 Rt.Nippon Hodo                                         1.05.18
12 Rdm Flanders                                           1.07.34
13 Hong Kong                                              1.46.02
14 Sumita Ravanello Pearlizumi                            1.49.06
15 Axa-Vvz                                                1.57.30
16 Malaysia                                               2.38.54