Japanese champion, Takenouchi Yu's hand made bike "Toyo frame" (Image credit: Sonoko Tanaka)
Image 17 of 29
Tsujiura Keiichi (Team Bridgestone Anchor) with the crowds (Image credit: Sonoko Tanaka)
Image 18 of 29
The mechanics hard at work (Image credit: Sonoko Tanaka)
Image 19 of 29
Seven Japanese riders and staff attended the cross world championships (Image credit: Sonoko Tanaka)
Image 20 of 29
Relaxing over a coffee (Image credit: Sonoko Tanaka)
Image 21 of 29
Toyooka Ayako (Panasonic Ladies) tested out the race course many times. (Image credit: Sonoko Tanaka)
Image 22 of 29
Yokoyama Kota talks about the course with team staff (Image credit: Sonoko Tanaka)
Image 23 of 29
Japanese champion,Takenouchi Yu (Team Eurasia) (Image credit: Sonoko Tanaka)
Image 24 of 29
Yokoyama Kota (Image credit: Sonoko Tanaka)
Image 25 of 29
Sawada Toki (Team Bridgeston Anchor) was waiting for the race start (Image credit: Sonoko Tanaka)
Image 26 of 29
Toyooka Ayako (Panasonic Ladies) ready for the race (Image credit: Sonoko Tanaka)
Image 27 of 29
Miyauchi Sakiko (Image credit: Sonoko Tanaka)
Image 28 of 29
Japanese champion, Takenouchi Yu's hand made bike "Toyo frame" (Image credit: Sonoko Tanaka)
Image 29 of 29
Riders stayed in Belgium for almost a month (Image credit: Sonoko Tanaka)
While Belgium may be the world's power in cyclo-cross, and the USA might be the biggest emerging market for the discipline, Japan is also a hotbed of 'cross and the top racers from that country took part in the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Koksijde on Sunday.
Yu Takenouchi, the Japanese national champion and runner-up Keiichi Tsujiura took part in the elite men's race, but with few UCI points and a poor starting position on the grid, they could not hold off being lapped by winner Niels Albert from Belgium.
In the elite women's race, Ayako Toyooka and Sakiko Miyauchi put up a good fight, and were only overtaken by Marianne Vos on the final lap, finishing just behind 31st place.
The future of Japan's 'cross team is bright, as junior racer Toki Sawada put in an extraordinary performance to take 19th place, while Kota Yokoyama and Michimasa Nakai finished in 41st and 42nd, respectively.
Sign up to the Cyclingnews Newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how to do this, and how we hold your data, please see our privacy policy
Thank you for signing up to Cycling News. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.