ツアー・オブ・ジャパン 2025

Priceless victory from a breakaway! 22-year-old Udagawa claims his first road race win in Mino.

"When we caught up to the three riders ahead, they all looked exhausted. At that moment, I thought—maybe we, who had been dropped once, might actually have more left in our legs.”

On Day 4 of the 2025 Tour of Japan, the race featured the traditional Mino stage—renowned for its historical scenery, including the iconic “Udatsu no Agaru Machinami”.  The stage began in front of the former Imai Residence with a 4.0 km neutral parade section, followed by six laps of a 21 km circuit course near the Mino Washi Paper Museum, covering a total race distance of 137.3 km. 
The Mino stage is considered a “flat stage,” typically expected to end in a bunch sprint. Unlike the previous day’s Inabe stage, which could significantly impact the overall standings, this stage saw an early attack succeed without much resistance. After an initial move by three riders, two more bridged across, forming a five-rider breakaway. The breakaway group consisted of: CAHYADI Aiman (Terengganu Cycling Team), UDAGAWA Rui (Aisan Racing Team), KNOLLE Jon (REMBE | RAD-NET), BETTLES Carter (Roojai Insurance), and KAZAMA Shoma (Shimano Racing).
 
An early breakaway formed smoothly in the opening phase of this flat stage. If things go according to theory, just as the sprinter team wanted.
This would play right into the hands of the sprinters’ teams. All they needed to do was control the time gap, reel in the escapees in the final kilometers, and set up for a bunch sprint. Both the riders in the peloton and the fans gathered at the finish near the Mino Washi Museum accepted this as the most likely scenario—just another typical day of racing. Even the riders in the breakaway—how much did they truly believe, at that moment, that they could actually make it to the finish ahead of the pack?

But it was only Day 4 of the race. Mountain stages and super climbs await the next day and the day after that. Once the team of the overall leader confirmed that the best-placed rider in the breakaway was 12 minutes and 6 seconds down in the general classification, they eased off the pace at the front of the peloton. For teams aiming for the overall victory, this was not a stage worth spending energy on. 
It became a headache even for the sprinter teams responsible for controlling the peloton. This is because the overall leader team, JCL TEM UKYO, has sprinter D'AMATO Andrea. They have no obligation to use their team’s strength to help D'AMATO sprint. However, if they don’t chase down the breakaway, the race cannot be brought to a bunch sprint. The only higher-ranked team in this race, Solution Tech Vini Fantini, cannot be relied on to lead the peloton since they lost their ace sprinter RAJOVIC in the Kyoto stage. Aisan Industry, which boasts two top sprinters—OKAMOTO Hayato and KUBOKI Kazushige — has sent UDAGAWA Rui into the breakaway, so they can afford to watch quietly from the peloton.
 
The time gap between the slow-moving peloton and the five riders in the breakaway gradually widened. – WANTY-NIPPO-RE UZ, and CCACHE X BODYWRAP tried to restore order in the peloton by taking turns at the front, but it was already too late. As the race entered the final lap, the time difference between the breakaway group and the peloton was 2 minutes and 8 seconds. The five leaders were confident they would stay away. The Mino stage turned into five-rider battle.
 
As the race entered the final lap, KNOLLE launched multiple attacks, but none succeeded. At the King of the Mountains (KOM) point, Carter attacked. Only KNOLLE and KAZAMA were able to respond, leaving three riders at the front. However, with the stage win within reach, none of them wanted to waste energy.

CAHYADI and UDAGAWA were once dropped on the climb, but they showed a desperate chase and caught up with the leaders with 2 km remaining. And here, we return to the words from the beginning.

“When I caught up with the three riders ahead, everyone looked exhausted. At that moment, I thought that since we had been dropped once, we might still have some energy left.”

With less than 1 km remaining, a tactical standoff began, resembling a track race. The five riders watched each other closely, carefully timing the start of their sprint at a slow pace. KNOLLE launched his attack with 300 meters to go. However, his repeated attacks during the final lap also reflected his reluctance to bring the race to a sprint finish. 
When UDAGAWA took the wheel behind KNOLLE and then surged ahead at top speed, no one was able to come alongside him. UDAGAWA’s triumphant roar echoed along the banks of the Itadori River.
 
“To be honest, I still feel a bit surreal. When I entered the finish line in the lead, I shouted louder than I ever have in my life.”
 
For 22-year-old UDAGAWA, who recently joined the team, this first victory in a UCI road race was priceless. Even after being dropped once, this stage demonstrated the true appeal of road racing—that if you use the race situation to your advantage, you can still win. At the same time, this victory was truly fitting for UDAGAWA, who calmly assessed the situation with confidence in his sprint, believing he could make up for a slow start. There is always a reason behind a winner’s success.
 
For the Tour of Japan, now in its second year under the banner of the “New Generation,” this fresh victory by Japan’s new generation carries significant meaning. Surely, the author is not the only one who, watching UDAGAWA’s sprint that day, couldn’t help but imagine him replicating such a performance in future major races.
 
Behind the dramatic breakaway victory, the riders and teams competing for the overall win held their breath quietly. In particular, JCL TEAM UKYO, which had already demonstrated overwhelming team strength at the Inabe stage, clearly rode with the mountain stages ahead in mind. It was the calm before the storm in the battle for the green jersey. What kind of storm will rage next?

Stage Winner UDAGAWA Rui (Aisan Racing Team) — Comments:“During the final lap, there were multiple attacks which made it tough, but I thought I would regret it if I gave up there, so I pushed through somehow. Inside the tunnel just before the KOM point, I was almost at my limit, but Coach KOMORI shouted encouragement, and I refocused. I was confident in my sprint, so when the riders started watching each other before the finish, I believed I could win. Since the final straight is long, I was careful not to start my sprint too early. Even if I got slightly behind, I thought I could make up for it in the sprint. When the others accelerated from 300 meters out, I stayed calm, took the wheel, and was able to overtake at the end to win. In past sprints, I used too much energy out of impatience, but today I think I was calm and focused.”

General Individual Time Classification (Green Jersey) & General Individual Points Classification (Blue Jersey)
FANCELLU Alessandro (JCL TEAM UKYO) — Comments:“The riders in the breakaway were 12 minutes behind in the overall standings, so as a team, I didn’t need to push ourselves too hard to chase them down. It was an easier day compared to yesterday, but the heat and high humidity are tough—coming from Europe, I’m not used to it. However, the conditions are the same for all riders, so it’s not a problem. Tomorrow will be a hard race, but we plan to control the situation and launch attacks. I’m confident.”

General KOM Classification (Red Jersey)
GARIBBO Nicolò (JCL TEAM UKYO) — Comments:“Today was a calm day. As a team, the overall standings are important, so I stayed near the front of the peloton but did not try to control the time gap. Tomorrow will be a tough stage, and I will focus on supporting FANCELLU’s overall standings, but if an opportunity arises, I also want to race for a win myself.”

Best Young Rider (White Jersey)
PLACE Maxence (WANTY-NIPPO-RE UZ) — Comments:“Our team has IMAMURA Shun, who is strong in sprints, so I kept a position near the front of the peloton. However, since the leader team let the breakaway riders go, our team was almost the only one leading the chase. Unfortunately, I couldn’t catch them. Tomorrow will be a very tough stage and will definitely be an active race. The overall standings will be decided over the next two days.”

Report by OMATA Yuta

Stage 4 – Mino results
1st    UDAGAWA Rui    (Aisan Racing Team)     3h 9m 35s
2nd    CAHYADI Aiman    (Terengganu Cycling Team)    ＋0s
3rd    KNOLLE Jon    （REMBE | RAD-NET）    ＋0s

Individual Overall Time Classification (Green Jersey)
1st    FANCELLU Alessandro     （JCL TEAM UKYO）    8h 51m 00s
2nd    BREGNHØJ Mathias     (Terengganu Cycling Team)    ＋16s
3rd    OKA Atsushi     (Utsunomiya Blitzen)    ＋33s

Individual Overall Points Classification (Blue Jersey)
1st    FANCELLU Alessandro    （JCL TEAM UKYO）    40pt
2nd    OKA Atsushi     (Utsunomiya Blitzen)    36pt
3rd    D'AMATO Andrea     （JCL TEAM UKYO）    33pt 

Individual Overall Mountains Classification (Red Jersey)
1st    GARIBBO Nicolò     （JCL TEAM UKYO）    13pt
2nd    CAHYADI Aiman     (Terengganu Cycling Team)    10pt
3rd    SAWADA Toki    (Utsunomiya Blitzen)    6pt

Individual Overall Best Young Rider Classification (White Jersey)
1st    PLACE Maxence    (WANTY-NIPPO-RE UZ)
2nd    HEFFERNAN William     （CCACHE X BODYWRAP）
3rd    LEDESMA GARCIA Gerard     （VC Fukuoka）