ツアー・オブ・ジャパン 2024

Giovanni CARBONI (JCL TEAM UKYO) wins breakaway sprint to take overall lead

The Inabe Stage, the third day of the TOJ 2024, starts from Ageki Station in Inabe City, Mie Prefecture, the terminus of the Hokusei Line of the Sangi Railway. After a 3.1 km neutral section, riders made eight laps around the 14.8 km of Inabe City Bairin (plum) Park circuit, covering a total distance of 127.0 km. The course features the Inabe stage’s famous ‘INABERG’, a steep hill.

The strong winds affected the race, and although there were attacks from the pack, the first lap ended without any decisive breakaway. On the second lap which the King of Mountain prize is set, NAKAI Tadaaki (SHIMANO RACING TEAM) wearing the Red Jersey jumped out of the pack and passed at the front and gained the KOM points.

Several attacks have been seen, but all of them were not decisive. On the third lap, Mohamad Nur Aiman MOHD ZARIFF (TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM) made a solo attack and crossed the control line first, succeeding to get sprint points. Davide TONEATTI (ASTANA QAZAQSTAN DEVELOPMENT TEAM), Ryan CAVANAGH (KINAN RACING TEAM) followed respectively with points and bonus time.

On the fourth lap, Carter BETTLES (ROOJAI INSURANCE), KUSABA Keigo (AISAN RACING TEAM), Giovanni CARBONI, KOISHI Yuma (both JCL TEAM UKYO), Drew MOREY (KINAN RACING TEAM), Zachary MARRIAGE (TEAM BRIDGELANE) and Anatolii BUDIAK (TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM) formed the leading group of seven at the ‘INABERG’, making a time gap to the peloton of 1 minute 39 seconds at the completion of the fourth lap.

MOREY (KINAN RACING TEAM) led the KOM point on the fifth lap. The sprint point at the end of the sixth lap was passed by CARBONI, MARRIAGE and MOREY in that order. At the completion of the seventh lap, the break’s time gap to the peloton was 1 minute 10 seconds.

In the end, the breakaway was brought together for an uphill sprint, with CARBONI (JCL TEAM UKYO) taking the stage win, BUDIAK (TERENGGANU CYCLING TEAM) in second, and MOREY (KINAN RACING TEAM) in third. The main group finished 1 minute 33 seconds behind, led by OKAMOTO Hayato (AISAN RACING TEAM).

As a result, CARBONI took the Green Jersey (GC) and Blue Jersey (Point). The White Jersey (Young) went to MARRIAGE (TEAM BRIDGELANE), who finished 5th in the stage.

Giovanni CARBONI (JCL TEAM UKYO) – Stage3 Winner & Green & Blue Jersey Wearer
“I had heard from my Japanese teammate that this stage would be hard, and I was able to break away with my teammate Yuma (KOISHI) on the third lap, but without him, I don't think it would have turned out the way it did today. It was difficult for the breakaway group to work together, so I went ahead in the end and headed for the finish. Tomorrow is a sprinter's stage, so I'm going for it for MALUCELLI.”

NAKAI Tadaaki (SHIMANO RACING TEAM) – Red Jersey Wearer
“It was hard all day. The wind was strong and the beginning of the climb was also tough. At the first KOM point, I was able to score 5 points thanks to my teammates who assisted me in positioning. I am happy that I managed to keep the jersey today. I am wearing red eyewear in this race and I think it might have brought me the Red Jersey.”

Zachary MARRIAGE (TEAM BRIDGELANE) – White Jersey Wearer
“I am happy to wear this White Jersey in Japan. It was tough all day. My legs were cramping a little bit at the last closing kilometers, but overall, it was a good day. We raced in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race this year and I won the King of the Mountain prize, but this is the first time racing in Japan, so I guess this is the best result. We will go over Europe after this, so I hope we can get some good results and see if we can impress people."