Lining up for the bike wash(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
Junior men's World Cup podium in Czech: Jens Schuermans, Anton Cooper, Pablo Rodriguez(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
Anton Cooper wins one for New Zealand in his first time competing in a European World Cup(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
Christian Pfäffle rode almost half a lap on the rim to reach the tech zone; he was in fifth when it happened and finished 14th(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
A large portion of the course is in the woods(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
Anton Cooper (New Zealand)(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
Jens Schuersman leads Anton Cooper on the first lap(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
The junior men start(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
There was a stunning upset in the men's junior World Cup Challenge when the relatively unheralded Anton Cooper of New Zealand decisively beat favorite Jens Schuermans (Belgium).
Cooper, a first-year, 16-year-old rider who has not previously raced outside of New Zealand, took the lead on the first lap, with the only sub-14 minute lap of the race, and continued to extend his lead throughout the rest of the race, finishing 1:43 in front of Schuermans, with Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spain) taking third, a further 14 seconds in arrears.
What started as a challenge to see if I could complete gravel's biggest race with a training plan based almost completely indoors turned into a battle for survival as the mud piled up and storm clouds rolled in