Superstars on show: Tadej Pogacar, Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome and Sepp Kuss. The who's who of the cycling scene did the honours at the Saitama Criterium in Japan at the weekend. Tour de France organiser Amaury Sports Organisation (A.S.O.) has been promoting cycling in Japan at its annual event in the Far East since 2013.
Saitama Criterium 2023: Works of art by cyclists
On the day before the Saitama Criterium, the stars of the scene show themselves to cycling fans at a media day in traditional Japanese clothing. Japanese calligraphy is painted with huge brushes and later a drawing competition is organised. Some works of art were also created this year. Tadej Pogacar drew a high-speed train and was applauded for his work. However, Mark Cavendish won the public's favour with his drawing. The 34-time Tour de France stage winner enchanted the Japanese audience with a small dragon, the symbol of Saitama.
After the media day on Saturday, a race was on the programme on Sunday. Although the traditional criterium in Saitama, a city of 1.3 million people, only has a show character, it offers spectators at the track the opportunity to experience the stars of the scene up close for around an hour and a half.
Saitama Criterium 2023: Victory for Tadej Pogacar
Tadej Pogacar secured victory after 59.5 kilometres. The Tour de France runner-up had broken away on the penultimate lap together with Peter Sagan and Sepp Kuss. In the sprint, the Slovenian left Vuelta winner Kuss from the USA no chance, while Sagan came third.
"It was an incredible day, an incredible atmosphere in Japan. Winning today was incredible. I waited for the last few laps and decided to just go on the attack today and it worked. The course was pretty fun. Left, right, through the arena, a bit of climbing through the tunnel, lots of sprints," said Pogacar after the race and thanked the Japanese fans.
"Thanks to the fans and the atmosphere, it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. I really like Japan and Saitama. I will certainly never forget this moment."
