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Tour of Japan - 2.2

Japan, May 20-27, 2007

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Stage 7 - May 27: Hibiya City - Ohi Wharf, 148.9 km

Masciarelli the first Italian winner, Arashiro takes final stage

By Miwako Sasaki

Francesco Masciarelli (Acqua e Sappone-Caffe Mokambo)
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki
(Click for larger image)

Francesco Masciarelli became the first Italian winner of the Tour of Japan today after his red Acqua e Sappone-Caffe Mokambo train kept things under control on the final flat stage to Tokyo, won by Japanese rider Yukiya Arashiro (Nippo Corporation).

Describing his first victory in a UCI stage race, Masciarelli said: "The hardest day was Mt. Fuji," referring to Friday's individual time trial held on the side of Japan's highest mountain, where he took the leader's jersey away from Kazakh Valentin Iglinskiy. "Izu [yesterday's mountain stage] was also a difficult one," he added.

Usually accompanied on the team by his brother, Andrea Masciarelli, the race winner admitted that the last two days had been difficult after his sibling crashed out on Stage 6 and was taken to hospital. "I always ride with my brother Andrea, but he wasn't beside me yesterday, I felt strange." said Masciarelli. "There are many people here today and I'm happy that I could win here. It's a dream comes true."

Twenty-two year old Arashiro, who hails from the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, had suffered a string of near misses in this year's race, coming second on stages one and three, but was finally rewarded at the last possible opportunity. "I'm really happy," he exclaimed. "Everybody said to me 'please win the stage', so I feel relieved now I've finally done it."

How it unfolded

Australian Miles Olman (South Australia.com-AIS) leads
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki
(Click for larger image)

The seventh and final day at the 11th Tour of Japan proved the hottest so far, with riders setting out from Hibiya in downtown Tokyo for seven 19km laps around the Ohi Wharf circuit. In the nervous opening laps many riders tried to go clear, until finally the SouthAustralia.com-AIS pairing of Sean Finning and Miles Olman broke away, immediately gaining a minute over the Acqua e Sappone controlled peloton.

As the Aussie pairing reached the final circuit, still holding a 40 second advantage, Japanese rider Akira Kakinuma (Team Miyata) attempted to jump across but Finning was alert to the move and the Commonwealth Games points champion hit out alone before finally being dragged back by a rampaging peloton inside the final kilometre.

In the final gallop, Arashiro proved quickest holding off Olman and Ken Hashikawa (Matrix-Powertag) with the remainder of the bunch finishing 13 seconds back, including race winner Masciarelli - the Italian holding his arms aloft as he sailed across the finish line wearing the green leader's jersey.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Miwako Sasaki

Results

1 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada      3.08.24
2 Miles Olman (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS                                       
3 Ken Hashikawa (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                               
4 Sean Finning (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS                                  0.03
5 Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                                  
6 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                                   0.05
7 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                               0.07
8 Daisuke Hioki (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                           0.09
9 Masaru Fukuhara (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                                 0.11
10 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team                                      0.13
11 Shinpei Fukuda (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                                  
12 Christian Lademann (Ger) Team Sparkasse                                          
13 Aurélien Passeron (Fra) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                           
14 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                            
15 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Skil - Shimano                                          
16 Aleksey Lyalko (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                                    
17 Yoshimitsu Tsuji (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                           
18 Herman Fouche (RSA) Team Konica Minolta                                          
19 Alexandr Dymovskikh (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                               
20 Ikki Yoneyama (Jpn) Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello                                  
21 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada           
22 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                                
23 Yusuke Hatanaka (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                                    
24 Keita Iwashima (Jpn) Nalsima Frend                                               
25 Timo Honstein (Ger) Team Sparkasse                                               
26 Kaoru Obata (Jpn) Nalsima Frend                                                  
27 Masanari Komuro (Jpn) Team JBCF                                                  
28 Ho Ting Kwok (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling                                         
29 Kam-Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling                                          
30 Yasuhiro Nito (Jpn) Nalsima Frend                                                
31 Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                           
32 Yuzuru Suzuki (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                                   
33 Hitoshi Urushizawa (Jpn) Team JBCF                                               
34 Kazunari Asano (Jpn) Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello                                 
35 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada         
36 Chun Hing Chan (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling                                       
37 Alexandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                                
38 Thijs Zonneveld (Ned) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team                          
39 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Skil - Shimano                                                 
40 Yoshinori Iino (Jpn) Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello                                 
41 Christof Van Heerden (RSA) Team Konica Minolta                                   
42 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil - Shimano                                             
43 Chris Froome (Ken) Team Konica Minolta                                           
44 Mitsunari Mitaki (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                                   
45 Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                       
46 Keisuke Kamata (Jpn) Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello                                 
47 Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                                
48 Shinya Oba (Jpn) Team JBCF                                                       
49 Jumpei Murakami (Jpn) Team JBCF                                                  
50 Arthur Ayers (Jpn) Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello                                   
51 Yasutaka Tashiro (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                                   
52 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS                                 
53 Naoki Mukaigawa (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                            
54 Takumi Beppu (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team                                             
55 Yoshimitsu Hiratsuka (Jpn) Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello                       0.20
56 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada           
57 Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team                                            
58 William Ford (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS                                     
59 Cameron Meyer (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS                                0.22
60 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Skil - Shimano                                               
61 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada         0.24
62 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                               0.28
63 Jay Thompson (RSA) Team Konica Minolta                                           
64 Yosuke Kojima (Jpn) Team JBCF                                                    
65 René Schild (Ger) Team Sparkasse                                             0.31
66 Jonas Owczarek (Ger) Team Sparkasse                                              
67 Dennis Van Niekerk (RSA) Team Konica Minolta                                 0.33
68 Tiaan Kannemeyer (RSA) Team Konica Minolta                                       
69 Francesco Di Paolo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                          
70 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Team JBCF                                                  
71 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                               0.39
72 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada             
73 Makoto Nakamura (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                             0.43
74 Takamitu Tsuji (Jpn) Skil - Shimano                                          0.47
75 Kaoru Ouchi (Jpn) Skil - Shimano                                             1.04
76 Kenichi Suzuki (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team                                       1.05
77 Gang Xu (Chn) Hong Kong Pro Cycling                                          1.13
78 Tomoya Sano (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                            1.44
79 Hideya Akiyama (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team                                       1.48
80 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team                                        2.45
81 Norihide Murayama (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                              4.53
DNF  Andrea Rossi (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                              
 
Final general classification
 
1 Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                22.47.16
2 Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                             1.57
3 Alexandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                             2.24
4 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                             2.25
5 Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                        2.26
6 Chris Froome (Ken) Team Konica Minolta                                        3.33
7 Yasutaka Tashiro (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                                3.36
8 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Skil - Shimano                                              3.55
9 Timo Honstein (Ger) Team Sparkasse                                            4.14
10 Alexandr Dymovskikh (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                               
11 Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                             4.34
12 Takumi Beppu (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team                                         5.01
13 Thijs Zonneveld (Ned) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team                      5.11
14 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada        6.03
15 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team                                      6.34
16 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil - Shimano                                         6.38
17 Yoshinori Iino (Jpn) Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello                             9.21
18 William Ford (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS                                 9.57
19 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada    10.28
20 Francesco Di Paolo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                     10.54
21 Kam-Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling                                     12.27
22 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                              14.54
23 Chun Hing Chan (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling                                  16.48
24 Makoto Nakamura (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                            17.22
25 Yasuhiro Nito (Jpn) Nalsima Frend                                           20.07
26 Aleksey Lyalko (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                               20.37
27 Tiaan Kannemeyer (RSA) Team Konica Minolta                                  20.45
28 Mitsunari Mitaki (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                              21.28
29 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Skil - Shimano                                          24.02
30 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada        24.14
31 Kazunari Asano (Jpn) Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello                            24.46
32 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada        28.26
33 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada      28.57
34 Yusuke Hatanaka (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                               29.47
35 Dennis Van Niekerk (RSA) Team Konica Minolta                                30.32
36 Norihide Murayama (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                             30.45
37 Ken Hashikawa (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                         32.00
38 Kenichi Suzuki (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team                                      33.30
39 Herman Fouche (RSA) Team Konica Minolta                                     34.00
40 Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team                                       36.32
41 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                                 38.34
42 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada      43.59
43 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Team JBCF                                             44.35
44 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                              45.44
45 René Schild (Ger) Team Sparkasse                                            46.11
46 Shinya Oba (Jpn) Team JBCF                                                  50.27
47 Daisuke Hioki (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                         51.26
48 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team                                       52.23
49 Keita Iwashima (Jpn) Nalsima Frend                                          52.24
50 Aurélien Passeron (Fra) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                      53.01
51 Cameron Meyer (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS                               53.23
52 Jonas Owczarek (Ger) Team Sparkasse                                         53.56
53 Masanari Komuro (Jpn) Team JBCF                                             54.58
54 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                             56.05
55 Yuzuru Suzuki (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                              56.32
56 Jay Thompson (RSA) Team Konica Minolta                                      56.47
57 Christof Van Heerden (RSA) Team Konica Minolta                              59.04
58 Shinpei Fukuda (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                             59.25
59 Yosuke Kojima (Jpn) Team JBCF                                               59.49
60 Kaoru Ouchi (Jpn) Skil - Shimano                                          1.01.36
61 Ho Ting Kwok (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling                                  1.02.03
62 Kaoru Obata (Jpn) Nalsima Frend                                           1.08.27
63 Ikki Yoneyama (Jpn) Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello                           1.08.36
64 Naoki Mukaigawa (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                     1.12.23
65 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                     1.13.20
66 Sean Finning (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS                              1.17.26
67 Andrea Rossi (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                         1.21.33
68 Keisuke Kamata (Jpn) Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello                          1.27.16
69 Gang Xu (Chn) Hong Kong Pro Cycling                                       1.33.12
70 Jumpei Murakami (Jpn) Team JBCF                                           1.35.01
71 Yoshimitsu Tsuji (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                    1.37.59
72 Yoshimitsu Hiratsuka (Jpn) Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello                    1.38.25
73 Masaru Fukuhara (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                             1.44.45
74 Hideya Akiyama (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team                                    1.45.42
75 Christian Lademann (Ger) Team Sparkasse                                   1.54.03
76 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS                          2.03.14
77 Arthur Ayers (Jpn) Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello                            2.06.04
78 Hitoshi Urushizawa (Jpn) Team JBCF                                        2.09.24
79 Takamitu Tsuji (Jpn) Skil - Shimano                                       2.12.08
80 Tomoya Sano (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                         2.18.02
81 Miles Olman (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS                               2.39.28
82 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Skil - Shimano                                   2.41.27
 
Points classification
 
1 Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                               61 pts
2 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada           51
3 Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                      29
4 Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                          29
5 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada          27
6 Kam-Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling                                         22
7 Aurélien Passeron (Fra) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                          21
8 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                                  18
9 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                                     17
10 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS                               17
11 Chris Froome (Ken) Team Konica Minolta                                         15
12 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team                                        13
13 Yoshinori Iino (Jpn) Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello                               12
14 Miles Olman (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS                                    12
15 Herman Fouche (RSA) Team Konica Minolta                                        10
16 Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                               10
17 Ken Hashikawa (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                            10
18 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                          10
19 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                                 9
20 Sean Finning (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS                                    8
21 Francesco Di Paolo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                         7
22 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada        6
23 Alexandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                               5
24 Shinpei Fukuda (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                                 5
25 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                               4
26 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil - Shimano                                            4
27 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada          3
28 René Schild (Ger) Team Sparkasse                                                3
29 Daisuke Hioki (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                             3
30 Jonas Owczarek (Ger) Team Sparkasse                                             3
31 Thijs Zonneveld (Ned) Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team                         2
32 Norihide Murayama (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                                 2
33 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team                                           2
34 Yoshimitsu Tsuji (Jpn) Matrix Powertag                                          2
35 Masaru Fukuhara (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                                   2
36 Yasutaka Tashiro (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                                  1
37 Keita Iwashima (Jpn) Nalsima Frend                                              1
 
Mountains classification
 
1 Alexandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                               22 pts
2 Andrey Medyannikov (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                               19
3 Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                          18
4 Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                      15
5 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada            12
6 Yasutaka Tashiro (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                                  12
7 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                                  12
8 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                                 12
9 Kam-Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling                                          8
10 Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team                               8
11 Herman Fouche (RSA) Team Konica Minolta                                         7
12 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada        5
13 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada            5
14 Masaru Fukuhara (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor                                   5
15 Chris Froome (Ken) Team Konica Minolta                                          5
16 Andrea Rossi (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                               5
17 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada           3
18 Makoto Nakamura (Jpn) Myata - Subaru Racing Team                                3
19 Tiaan Kannemeyer (RSA) Team Konica Minolta                                      3
20 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Skil - Shimano                                                2
21 Francesco Di Paolo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                         2
22 William Ford (Aus) South Australia.com - AIS                                    1
 
Teams classification
 
1 Kazakhstan National Team                                                  68.29.06
2 Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo                                                4.42
3 Nippo Corporation - Meitan Honpo Co LTD - Asada                              17.38
4 Aisan Racing Team                                                            25.59
5 Skil - Shimano                                                               27.09
6 Team Konica Minolta                                                          30.37
7 Team Bridgestone Anchor                                                      33.05
8 Myata - Subaru Racing Team                                                   58.30
9 Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello                                                1.17.51
10 Hong Kong Pro Cycling                                                     1.22.27
11 Team Sparkasse                                                            1.36.45
12 South Australia.com - AIS                                                 1.56.03
13 Matrix Powertag                                                           2.07.31
14 Nalsima Frend                                                             2.13.04
15 Team JBCF                                                                 2.18.43