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12th Tour of Japan - 2.2
Japan, May 18-25, 2008
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage
Stage 7 - May 25: Hibiya City - Oi Wharf circuit race, 148.9km
Meyer claims Tour of Japan
By Gennie Sheer
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West Australian Cameron Meyer has taken out the Tour of Japan, heading the SouthAustralia.com-AIS outfit that also claimed victory in the teams classification. After team-mate Wesley Sulzberger took an early lead, Meyer jumped into first place in stage 6, one day after he propelled himself up into second on the tough time trial up the Mt. Fuji.
Meyer held a slim one-second margin over compatriot Jai Crawford from the Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team, but was able to double that by the end of the race.
"It feels really good to win because I haven't won a Tour overall for a while so good to show some form and get the result," said Meyer, who's last overall stage race win was in 2007 in the Tour of Tasmania.
"Today was a bit nerve wracking mainly because it was pouring rain and we only had one second up our sleeves so we had to be alert the whole day," said Meyer. "But we were still confident because we've been riding really well as a team and we backed me as being faster than Jai in the sprint."
The team had hoped a break would go away early to neutralise the intermediate sprints but aggressive racing early on saw the main bunch contest the first intermediate sprint at around the 50-kilometre mark of the stage.
"We had to line up for the first sprint with Marco Polo working for Jai and my guys led me out," said Meyer, who edged Crawford out for third place and a one-second bonus.
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After the sprint a breakaway group of 14 riders formed at the front, including Meyer's team-mate and stage 1 winner Zakkari Dempster.
"Luckily that break went clear and we had Zak in it so that took the pressure off us a little bit," said Meyer. Wes Sulzberger and Simon Clarke then did the job of controlling the bunch to safeguard Meyer's position.
The group stayed away until the end where Poland's Marcin Gebka won the stage, with Dempster crossing the line in fourth place.
The main bunch crossed 46 seconds later with Meyer safely tucked in 33rd place on Crawford's wheel.
SouthAustralia.com-AIS won the teams classification by three minutes and 37 seconds over team Nippo-Endeka, with Meyer second in the points classification. He had gathered 37 points, three points less than winner Taiji Nishitani of Japan. Sulzberger was third with 29 points.
The team collected three stage wins during the event, with Dempster claiming the opening stage, Wes Sulzberger winning stage 2 and Simon Clarke taking out the fourth stage.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Miwako Sasaki/Cyclingnews.com
- The heavy rain hits the start of the 12th Tour of Japan's final stage in Tokyo.
- Simon Clarke (SouthAustralia.com - AIS) needs an umbrella to sign on at the start.
- Polish team Mroz-Action-Uniqa had a meeting for the final time before the start in Tokyo.
- Marco Weilenmann (Stegcomputer -CTK-Cogeas) with a good luck charm.
- SouthAustralia.com - AIS waiting for a start of the final stage in Tokyo.
- The jerseys for the Tour of Japan line up for the start in a rainy Tokyo.
- The Tour of Japan's final stage started in the rain.
- The peloton rounds a wet circuit at Ooi Wharf in Tokyo.
- Kazakh Maxim Gourov (A-Style-Somn) leads the breakaway.
- The peloton is riding a wet course in Tokyo.
- SouthAustralia.com - AIS keeps control of the peloton for its race leader.
- Cameron Meyer (South Australia.com-AIS), the green jersey holder, rides in the peloton.
- Dutch rider Leon van Bon (Trek-Marco Polo Cycling) is a part of the breakaway.
- Polish rider Marcin Gebka (Mroz-Action-Uniqa) expected a sprint finish.
- First stage winner Zakkari Dempster (SouthAustralia.com - AIS) is in the breakaway on the final stage too.
- Japanese Shinich Fukushima (Meitan Hompo-GDR) and Alberto di Lorenzo (A-Style-Somn) attack from the breakaway.
- Piotr Chmielewski (Mroz-Action-Uniqa) works for his team-mate Marcin Gebka in the breakaway.
- Polish rider Marcin Gebka (Mroz-Action-Uniqa) is the fastest man in the breakaway.
- Marcin Gebka (Mroz-Action-Uniqa) wins the final stage of the 12th Tour of Japan in Tokyo.
- Marcin Gebka (Mroz-Action-Uniqa) prepares for the ceremony.
- Tokyo stage winner Marcin Gebka (Mroz-Action-Uniqa) on the podium.
- Marcin Gebka (Mroz-Action-Uniqa) with his team patrons Mrs. and Mr. Mroz.
- Italian Vincenzo Garofalo (Nippo-Endeka) won the mountain classification.
- Japanese rider Taiji Nishitani (Aisan Racing Team) won the points classification.
- SouthAustralia.com - AIS won the team classification, as well as the overall race win.
- Cameron Meyer (SouthAustralia.com - AIS) became the Tour of Japan's first Australian winner.
- The final stage winner and the jersey holders at the 12th Tour of Japan.
- The final podium at the 12th Tour of Japan… See you next year!
Results
1 Marcin Gebka (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 3.01.40 (49.178 km/h) 2 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 3 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 4 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 5 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 6 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 7 Maxim Gourov (Kaz) A-Style Somn 8 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 9 Alexandre Aulas (Fra) A-Style Somn 10 Alberto Di Lorenzo (Ita) A-Style Somn 11 Makoto Nakamura (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 12 Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 0.06 13 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 0.11 14 Piotr Chmielewski (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 0.28 15 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 0.46 16 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 17 Aristide Ratti (Ita) A-Style Somn 18 Benjamin Stauder (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 19 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 20 Timo Albiez (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 21 Ikki Yoneyama (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 22 Rogelio Carvalho (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 23 Yasuhiro Nito (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 24 Sung Baek Park (Kor) Seoul Cycling 25 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 26 Tetsuya Fujioka (Jpn) Team JBCF 27 Takashi Nakayama (Jpn) Team JBCF 28 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 29 Masafumi Yamane (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 30 Masayuki Kimura (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 31 Vicenzo Garofalo (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 32 Jai Crawford (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 33 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 34 Hiroshi Nara (Jpn) Team JBCF 35 Sano Junya (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 36 Mariusz Witecki (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 37 Simone Bruson (Ita) A-Style Somn 38 Keita Iwashima (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 39 Robert Rodosz (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 40 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 41 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 42 Yosuke Kojima (Jpn) Team JBCF 43 Hyo Suk Gong (Kor) Seoul Cycling 44 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 45 Michael Haiser (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 46 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 47 Yoshimasa Hirose (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 48 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 49 Takayuki Naganuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 50 Yoshimitsu Hiratsuka (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 51 Masaki Hirabayashi (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 52 Devis Miorin (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 53 Kohei Tsusue (Jpn) Team JBCF 54 Sylvain Georges (Fra) A-Style Somn 55 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 56 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 57 Keisuke Kamata (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 58 Yoshiyuki Shimizu (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 59 Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 60 Won Jae Lee (Kor) Seoul Cycling 61 Genta Nakamura (Jpn) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 62 Masafumi Nishitani (Jpn) Team JBCF 63 Rhys Pollock (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 64 Simon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 65 Naoki Mukaigawa (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 66 Wojciech Pawlak (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 67 Tomoyuki Kaneda (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 1.06 68 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 1.17 69 Kenichi Suzuki (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 70 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 1.20 71 Kazunari Asano (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 72 Daisuke Hioki (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 2.10 73 Tomoya Sano (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 3.11 DNF Kaoru Obata (Jpn) Nalsima Frend DNF Ki Hong Yoo (Kor) Seoul Cycling DNF Asa Eazu (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant DNF William Ford (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS DNF Marco Weilenmann (Swi) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas DNF Seok Kyu Suh (Kor) Seoul Cycling DNF Gu Hyeon Kim (Kor) Seoul Cycling DNS Masahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team DNS Hideya Akiyama (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team Points 1 Marcin Gebka (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 20 pts 2 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 15 3 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 10 4 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 10 5 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 10 6 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 9 7 Wojciech Pawlak (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 5 8 Maxim Gourov (Kaz) A-Style Somn 4 9 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 3 10 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 3 11 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 2 12 Alexandre Aulas (Fra) A-Style Somn 2 13 Piotr Chmielewski (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 2 14 Alberto Di Lorenzo (Ita) A-Style Somn 1 Mountains 1 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 10 pts 2 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 7 3 Rhys Pollock (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 6 4 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 5 5 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 2 Teams 1 A-Style Somn 9.05.00 2 Meitan Hompo-GDR 0.11 3 Team Bridgestone Anchor 0.46 4 Mroz Action Uniqa 1.14 5 SouthAustralia.com-AIS 1.32 6 Skil-Shimano 7 Trek-Marco Polo Cycling Team 8 Nippo-Endeka 1.38 9 Seoul Cycling 2.18 10 Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello 11 Team JBCF 12 Stegcomputer-CKT-Cogeas 13 Nalsima Frend 14 Team Comrade Giant 2.38 15 Aisan Racing Team 2.49 16 Matrix Powertag 3.42 Final General classification 1 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 20.16.21 2 Jai Crawford (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 0.02 3 Vicenzo Garofalo (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 0.44 4 Mariusz Witecki (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 1.11 5 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 1.20 6 Robert Rodosz (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 2.15 7 Hyo Suk Gong (Kor) Seoul Cycling 2.26 8 Alexandre Aulas (Fra) A-Style Somn 2.35 9 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 3.08 10 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 3.27 11 Timo Albiez (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 3.39 12 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 3.45 13 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 4.07 14 Alberto Di Lorenzo (Ita) A-Style Somn 4.15 15 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 16 Keisuke Kamata (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 4.19 17 Rhys Pollock (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 5.42 18 Simone Bruson (Ita) A-Style Somn 5.53 19 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 6.55 20 Takayuki Naganuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 7.30 21 Simon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 7.47 22 Devis Miorin (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 8.41 23 Takeaki Ayabe (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 9.03 24 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 9.04 25 Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 10.55 26 Michael Haiser (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 10.58 27 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 12.11 28 Tetsuya Fujioka (Jpn) Team JBCF 12.50 29 Keita Iwashima (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 13.01 30 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 13.19 31 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 14.54 32 Yoshimitsu Hiratsuka (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 15.34 33 Kenichi Suzuki (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 18.27 34 Yoshiyuki Shimizu (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 19.07 35 Piotr Chmielewski (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 20.18 36 Sano Junya (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 21.26 37 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 23.45 38 Aristide Ratti (Ita) A-Style Somn 25.40 39 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 29.07 40 Kohei Tsusue (Jpn) Team JBCF 29.24 41 Maxim Gourov (Kaz) A-Style Somn 29.32 42 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 30.09 43 Yosuke Kojima (Jpn) Team JBCF 31.38 44 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 34.30 45 Genta Nakamura (Jpn) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 34.33 46 Naoki Mukaigawa (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 34.50 47 Masafumi Yamane (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 35.17 48 Masafumi Nishitani (Jpn) Team JBCF 35.56 49 Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 36.11 50 Makoto Nakamura (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 37.16 51 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 40.35 52 Yoshimasa Hirose (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 41.29 53 Takashi Nakayama (Jpn) Team JBCF 43.12 54 Sung Baek Park (Kor) Seoul Cycling 43.52 55 Wojciech Pawlak (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 46.08 56 Won Jae Lee (Kor) Seoul Cycling 46.16 57 Masaki Hirabayashi (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 48.58 58 Ikki Yoneyama (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 53.40 59 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 1.00.10 60 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 1.02.30 61 Marcin Gebka (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 1.03.26 62 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 1.05.33 63 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 1.08.53 64 Masayuki Kimura (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 1.11.55 65 Sylvain Georges (Fra) A-Style Somn 1.15.44 66 Tomoyuki Kaneda (Jpn) Team Comrade Giant 1.16.22 67 Yasuhiro Nito (Jpn) Nalsima Frend 1.17.16 68 Daisuke Hioki (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 1.21.17 69 Kazunari Asano (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 1.21.37 70 Rogelio Carvalho (Jpn) Pearl Izumi Sumita Ravanello 1.29.44 71 Tomoya Sano (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 1.49.57 72 Benjamin Stauder (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 2.09.43 73 Hiroshi Nara (Jpn) Team JBCF 2.39.17 Points 1 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 40 pts 2 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 37 3 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 29 4 Robert Rodosz (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 27 5 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 25 6 Marcin Gebka (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 23 7 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 23 8 Alexandre Aulas (Fra) A-Style Somn 22 9 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 20 10 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 17 11 Simon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 15 12 Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 13 13 Alberto Di Lorenzo (Ita) A-Style Somn 12 14 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 11 15 Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 11 16 Vicenzo Garofalo (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 11 17 Hyo Suk Gong (Kor) Seoul Cycling 11 18 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 11 19 Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 11 20 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 10 21 Aristide Ratti (Ita) A-Style Somn 10 22 Benjamin Stauder (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 10 23 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 9 24 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 8 25 Wojciech Pawlak (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 8 26 Sung Baek Park (Kor) Seoul Cycling 6 27 Mariusz Witecki (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 4 28 Devis Miorin (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 4 29 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 4 30 Maxim Gourov (Kaz) A-Style Somn 4 31 Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 3 32 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 2 33 Piotr Chmielewski (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 2 34 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Matrix Powertag 2 35 Jai Crawford (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 1 Mountains 1 Vicenzo Garofalo (Ita) Nippo-Endeka 37 pts 2 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 24 3 Hyo Suk Gong (Kor) Seoul Cycling 20 4 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 13 5 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 12 6 Jai Crawford (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 12 7 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 10 8 Mariusz Witecki (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 9 9 Robert Rodosz (Pol) Mroz Action Uniqa 8 10 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 8 11 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 6 12 Rhys Pollock (Aus) Trek - Marco Polo Cycling Team 6 13 Kazuo Inoue (Jpn) Nippo-Endeka 6 14 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor 4 15 Timo Albiez (Ger) Stegcomputer - CKT - Cogeas 3 16 Simon Clarke (Aus) Southaustralia.com-AIS 3 17 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 2 18 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 2 Teams 1 SouthAustralia.com-AIS 60.55.24 2 Nippo-Endeka 3.37 3 A-Style Somn 5.44 4 Skil-Shimano 5.56 5 Meitan Hompo-GDR 9.14 6 Mroz Action Uniqa 10.39 7 Aisan Racing Team 17.12 8 Trek-Marco Polo Cycling Team 19.14 9 Seoul Cycling 32.25 10 Pearlizumi Sumita Ravanello 50.55 11 Team JBCF 1.06.45 12 Team Bridgestone Anchor 1.10.47 13 Stegcomputer-CKT-Cogeas 1.15.42 14 Nalsima Frend 1.23.41 15 Matrix Powertag 2.04.17 16 Team Comrade Giant 2.06.31
