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Victory at the 2022 Tour de France Saitama Criterium fell to Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), with the Belgian sprinting to the line from a six-man group.
Philipsen, who won two stages at this year’s Tour de France including the finale on the Champs Elysées, was a popular ‘winner’ of the exhibition event, which sees stars of the Tour on display in Japan.
The 24-year-old beat Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard to the line, with 2018 Tour winner Geraint Thomas rounding out the podium.
The event played out on a short circuit around the Tokyo commuter belt suburb of Saitama, with each lap taking the riders through a packed audience in the JSports arena, where Guns N’ Roses were preparing to play that night.
The ‘race’ was animated by a two-man breakaway featuring recently retired veterans Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde. With 10km to go, however, their escape came to an end, with Valverde offering a well-choreographed handshake to his compatriot.
That left a group of seven out front, with Philipsen, Vingegaard, Thomas, Chris Froome and Enric Mas the five riders who chased back on. Thomas attacked on a kicker out of a tunnel to spark a brief two-man move with Mas, before going again when things came back together.
That turned out to be the final selection, as Thomas went to the line with Vingegaard and Philipsen. The Belgian would have won convincingly in any normal scenario and so it was here.
“I was not up against the strongest sprinters but they are strong riders,” he said. “I’m happy I could finish it in the sprint.”
Mark Cavendish, a favourite with the Japanese fans. mopped up from the bunch behind.
Earlier in the day, Jumbo-Visma topped the team time trial event, with…
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