Davide Villella (Cannondale – Drapac) snagged the first pro win of his career Sunday at the Japan Cup. The 25-year-old Italian took advantage of a tough climb on the 10.3-kilometer circuit in Utsunomiya to get clear of the field, and then soloed to victory at the end of a 144.2km day.
“I have missed a victory all season, so I’m really happy to get the win here today,” Villella said. “The teamwork — all of the teammates and all of the staff — was amazing.”
The challenging parcours gradually whittled down the peloton over the course of the afternoon, leaving only a little over 20 riders left to chase Villella when he made his move the start of the 14th and final lap.
“When I attacked, I thought: ‘This is how I can win this race.’” Villella said. “I felt sure if I attacked that I could win. I’m in really good shape at the end of my season.”
Once he’d gotten clear, no one managed to bring Villella back.
Chris Juul-Jensen (Orica – BikeExchange) came closest, crossing the line six seconds down. His Orica teammate Robert Power, one of the sport’s most promising young prospects, rounded out the podium in third.
Results
- 1. Davide VILLELLA, CDT, in 3:46:43
- 2. Christopher JUUL JENSEN, OBE, at :06
- 3. Robert POWER, OBE, at :14
- 4. Manuele MORI, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at :14
- 5. Oscar PUJOL MUNOZ, UKO, at :14
- 6. Alex PETERS, TEAM SKY, at :14
- 7. Benjamin PRADES, UKO, at :17
- 8. Javier MEGIAS LEAL, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at :43
- 9. Yukiya ARASHIRO, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at :43
- 10. Joseph ROSSKOPF, BMC RACING TEAM, at :43
- 11. Cameron BAYLY, ATG, at :45
- 12. Thomas LEBAS, BRIDGESTONE ANCHOR CYCLING TEAM, at :48
- 13. Taylor PHINNEY, BMC RACING TEAM, at 1:19
- 14. Mathew HAYMAN, OBE, at 1:19
- 15. Pier Paolo DE NEGRI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 1:19
- 16. Sho HATSUYAMA, BRIDGESTONE ANCHOR CYCLING TEAM, at 1:19
- 17. Jai CRAWFORD, KIN, at 1:19
- 18. Nariyuki MASUDA, UTSUNOMIA BLITZEN, at 1:19
- 19. Jasper STUYVEN, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 1:19
- 20. Iuri FILOSI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 1:19
- 21. Rodrigo LORENTE ARAQUE, UKO, at 1:19
- 22. Manuel QUINZIATO, BMC RACING TEAM, at 1:19
- 23. Kristoffer SKJERPING, CDT, at 1:19
- 24. Simone PETILLI, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 1:19
- 25. Ryota NISHIZONO, BRIDGESTONE ANCHOR CYCLING TEAM, at 1:32
- 26. Mattia CATTANEO, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 2:35
- 27. Takeaki AMEZAWA, UTSUNOMIA BLITZEN, at 2:43
- 28. Yusuke HATANAKA, UKO, at 3:43
- 29. Hideto NAKANE, JPN, at 3:43
- 30. Yuzuru SUZUKI, UTSUNOMIA BLITZEN, at 3:47
- 31. Masahiro ISHIGAMI, JPN, at 3:54
- 32. Kevin DE MESMAEKER, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 4:25
- 33. Fumiyuki BEPPU, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 4:25
- 34. Jose Vicente TORIBIO ALCOLEA, MATRIX POWERTAG, at 4:25
- 35. Nicholas SCHULTZ, OBE, at 4:25
- 36. Grégory RAST, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 4:25
- 37. Damiano CUNEGO, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 4:25
- 38. Ricardo GARCIA AMBROA, KIN, at 4:25
- 39. Marcos GARCIA, KIN, at 4:25
- 40. Xabier ZANDIO ECHAIDE, TEAM SKY, at 4:25
- 41. Charles PLANET, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 7:25
- 42. Rei ONODERA, UTSUNOMIA BLITZEN, at 7:47
- 43. Kohei UCHIMA, BRIDGESTONE ANCHOR CYCLING TEAM, at 7:47
- 44. Hayato YOSHIDA, MATRIX POWERTAG, at 7:47
- 45. Naoya YOSHIOKA, NASU BLASEN, at 7:47
- 46. Yukihiro DOI, MATRIX POWERTAG, at 7:47
- 47. Kazuo INOUE, BRIDGESTONE ANCHOR CYCLING TEAM, at 10:00
- 48. Hayato OKAMOTO, JPN, at 10:00
- 49. Masakazu ITO, JPN, at 10:00
- 50. Shao Hsuan LU, ATG, at 10:00
- 51. Kota SUMIYOSHI, UKO, at 10:00
- 52. Takaaki HORI, UTSUNOMIA BLITZEN, at 10:51
- 53. Keisuke KIMURA, JPN, at 12:03
- DNF Matti BRESCHEL, CDT
- DNF Matteo BONO, LAMPRE – MERIDA
- DNF Lars Petter NORDHAUG, TEAM SKY
- DNF Yuma KOISHI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI
- DNF Taylor EISENHART, BMC RACING TEAM
- DNF Genki YAMAMOTO, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI
- DNF Daiki YASUHARA, MATRIX POWERTAG
- DNF Kenji ITAMI, KIN
- DNF Eugenio ALAFACI, TREK – SEGAFREDO
- DNF Christian MEIER, OBE
- DNF Toms SKUJINS, CDT
- DNF Alan MARANGONI, CDT
- DNF Stephen CLANCY, TEAM NOVO NORDISK
- DNF Hayato NISHIO, NASU BLASEN
- DNF MICHINARI TAKAGI, NASU BLASEN
- DNF Bauke MOLLEMA, TREK – SEGAFREDO
- DNF Wen Chung HUANG, ATG
- DNF Kyohei MIZUNO, NASU BLASEN
- DNF Masaki SHIMOJIMA, NASU BLASEN
- DNF Fabian LIENHARD, BMC RACING TEAM
- DNF Airan FERNANDEZ CASASOLA, MATRIX POWERTAG
- DNF Ben HILL, ATG
- DNF Martijn VERSCHOOR, TEAM NOVO NORDISK
- DNF David LOPEZ GARCIA, TEAM SKY
- DNF Timothy GUY, ATG
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