Rogers wins Japan Cup alone in the rain
Australian takes his first win of the season












Michael Rogers (Saxo-Tinkoff) defied the rain to take a solo victory at the Japan Cup, ending his 2013 season with his first win of the year.
The veteran Australian was part of the decisive group that formed on the final lap of the hilly circuit race in Utsunomiya. He then got away with young British rider Josh Edmondson (Team Sky) before attacking again and riding solo to the finish. Using his time trial skills, Rogers continued to gain time all the way to the line.
Edmondson was eventually caught and finished tenth. New Zealand’s Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp) was second at 44 seconds, beating Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Merida) and Julian Arredondo (Nippo-De Rosa). The big-name riders finished in the peloton. Ivan Basso (Cannondale) was 14th at 2:59 and Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp) was 23rd at 4:04.
“On the penultimate climb, Rory (Sutherland) and Evgeny (Petrov) did an amazing job narrowing down the front group to just seven or eight riders and soon I was alone with Edmundson,” Rogers explained.
“In the finale, I managed to so solo and was actually able to enjoy the final kilometers as the margin kept growing. A great way to win all thanks for the perfect set-up by teammates and a magnificent way to finish the season.”
On Saturday Steele Von Hoff won the Japan Cup Criterium, beating Bernhard Eisel (Team Sky) and Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) in the sprint.
Full Results
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# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | 4:25:00 |
2 | Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin-Sharp | 0:00:44 |
3 | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
4 | Julian David Arredondo Moreno (Col) Team Nippo-De Rosa | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
5 | David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Sky Procycling | 0:00:50 |
6 | Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:00:58 |
7 | Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Sky Procycling | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
8 | Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
9 | Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team | 0:01:05 |
10 | Joshua Edmondson (GBr) Sky Procycling | 0:01:33 |
11 | Elia Favilli (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:02:30 |
12 | Ben Hermans (Bel) RadioShack Leopard | 0:02:55 |
13 | Pieter Serry (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:02:59 |
14 | Ivan Basso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | Row 13 - Cell 2 |
15 | Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin-Sharp | 0:03:58 |
16 | Serghei Tvetcov (Mda) Jelly Belly p/b Kenda | Row 15 - Cell 2 |
17 | Tomoyuki Iino (Jpn) Utsunomiya Blitzen | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
18 | Jose Vicente Toribio Alcolea (Spa) Team Ukyo | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Ryoma Nonaka (Jpn) Shimano Racing Team | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
20 | Yoshimitsu Hiratsuka (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
21 | Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
22 | Rory Sutherland (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
23 | Daniel Martin (Can) | 0:04:04 |
24 | Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
25 | Ryota Nishizono (Jpn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team | 0:04:36 |
26 | Hossein Alizadeh (IRI) Amore & Vita | 0:06:51 |
27 | Naoya Uchino (Jpn) | 0:08:10 |
28 | Sean Mazich (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Kenda | 0:08:17 |
29 | Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
30 | Nariyuki Masuda (Jpn) Cannondale Pro Cycling | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
31 | Yasuharu Nakajima (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
32 | Charles Bradley Huff (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Kenda | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
33 | Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor | 0:08:19 |
34 | Naoya Yoshioka (Jpn) | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
35 | Hayato Yoshida (Jpn) Shimano Racing Team | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
36 | Yuzuru Suzuki (Jpn) Shimano Racing Team | 0:10:30 |
37 | Uri Martins (Mex) Amore & Vita | 0:11:26 |
38 | Yuya Akimaru (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor | 0:12:16 |
39 | Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Team Nippo-De Rosa | 0:12:36 |
DNF | Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira (Por) RadioShack Leopard | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
DNF | George Bennett (NZl) RadioShack Leopard | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Manabu Ishibashi (Jpn) Team Nippo-De Rosa | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Antonio Cabello (Spa) | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Team Ukyo | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre-Merida | Row 45 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Utsunomiya Blitzen | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Fred Rodriguez (USA) Jelly Belly p/b Kenda | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Yusuke Hatanaka (Jpn) Shimano Racing Team | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Takero Terasaki (Jpn) | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Team Ukyo | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Luis Enrique Davila (Mex) Jelly Belly p/b Kenda | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Masaru Fukuhara (Jpn) Utsunomiya Blitzen | Row 53 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Eiichi Hirai (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor | Row 54 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Kohei Uchima (Jpn) Team Nippo-De Rosa | Row 55 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Miyataka Shimizu (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Takaaki Hori (Jpn) Utsunomiya Blitzen | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Makoto Nakamura (Jpn) Utsunomiya Blitzen | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Shotaro Iribe (Jpn) Shimano Racing Team | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Takayuki Abe (Jpn) Team Ukyo | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Simone Stortoni (Ita) Lampre-Merida | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Hideto Nakane (Jpn) Team Nippo-De Rosa | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Shiki Kuroeda (Jpn) | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Matthias Friedemann (Ger) Champion System Pro Cycling Team | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Juraj Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Kenji Itami (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin-Sharp | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Bob Jungels (Lux) RadioShack Leopard | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Thomas Lebas (Fra) Bridgestone Anchor | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | Row 74 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Mihkel Räim (Est) Amore & Vita | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Chad Beyer (USA) Champion System Pro Cycling Team | Row 76 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Alex Rasmussen (Den) Garmin-Sharp | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Hayden Roulston (NZl) RadioShack Leopard | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling | Row 79 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling | Row 80 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Matt Brammeier (Irl) Champion System Pro Cycling Team | Row 81 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Craig Lewis (USA) Champion System Pro Cycling Team | Row 82 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Antonio Di Battista (Ita) Amore & Vita | Row 83 - Cell 2 |

Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
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