149 riders line up for 151km of racing around some hills in Japan, with the victor probably getting some kind of cup. Yes, it's the Japan Cup!
Lap 1/11: Tsgabu Gebrebrebrebrebrebrbebrebmaryyrryam Grmay (Rapha Condor) is the initial rider to break away I may not have got the name spelt 100% right
Lap 2/11: Nobody else has joined him, and he's not exactly motored away either. The gap is just 22 seconds, but Red Bull are stringing out the pack Don't be fooled that the pack is going fast. This course just strings people out
Lap 3/11: Hector Duenas Nevado (Aker Solutions) (obviously under ember's orders) attacks from the pack, and quickly drags along Grmay to actually forma breakaway. Their lead quickly extends to over 2 minutes. Grmay was caught by Nevado within about 5 metres of Nevado attacking
Lap 5/11: Nearing the halfway point, and finally some interesting action! A dangerous trio of Martinez (Hollister), Bosiso (Vespa) and Llyod (Meiji - Fuji) go on the offensive, quickly bridging up to our two original escapees. No sign of Arashiro
Lap 6/11: A bold move from Thomas Lovkvist (Saab) sees him bridge the gap too! This is now an extremely dangerous breakaway, who now have a 5 minute lead with 64km to go! Yep, this was the best screenshot I took of Thomas attacking. The other ones were him inside the middle of the commisaire's car. An official complaint was launched by other teams, but apparently, the UCI laws don't forbid breaking the laws of physics
Lap 7/11: Tinkoff have hit the front of the pack hard, reducing it to just 71 riders. The break's lead is now 4 minutes, with under 50km to go.
Lap 8/11: Jayco - Red Bull appear to be trying to channel the spirit of Rabobank. Mori then Moinard take tumbles! The lead is now down to 3 minutes with 35km of racing left 3 crashes for the day, all for the same team. See Murphy's Law
Lap 9/11: Rapha Condor now take up the chase and bring the gap down to under 2 minutes with 21km to go. Only 49 riders remain in the pack! That spectator has now appeared in 3 screenshots. And, I know what you're thinking, and the answer is yes, he hasn't moved an inch. NOT ONE INCH. He stayed up all night for that spot, and despite the fact there's no other spectator within a kilometre of him, he damn sure ain't giving up that spot. Chapeau, good sir, chapeau!
16km to go: 2 laps to go, and time to make some moves in the pack. Bellis (Rapha Condor) is the first to go, with Alexander Flugel (Team VW) scrambling for his wheel
14km to go: The second wave of attacks starts, as Nicolas Roche, Cesare Di Maggio, Alexander Kolobnev, Dimitri Claeys, Marcel Wyss and Alex Dowsett go on the offensive.
10km to go: A front group of 10 has now formed, containing our original six riders, plus Roche, Flugel, Bellis and Di Maggio. Back in the pack, more attacks from Jeremy Roy, Chris Froome and Matthew Busche.
9km to go: FINAL LAP! And Flugel has gone on the offensive whilst the chase behind him is unorganised and hesitant. Is this it?!?!
7km to go: It looks fractured, but race radio says everything is back together, with a pack of 28 riders. All except Flugel, who is now just 30 seconds ahead!
2km to go: The gap is just 20 seconds now, as Flugel passes two lapped riders. Can he hold on?
The chase behind is frantic, as the riders still with energy left surge to the front!
Finish: Bellis surges forwards off a reluctant but fast-paced lead-out from Claeys, but not even his turn of speed is enough! Flugel takes the victory, but doesn't even have the energy to salute his victory!
Bellis takes second place. Perhaps if both his teammates, Dowsett and Froome, hadn't of attacked, a better chase could have been mounted.
A tight finish for the final podium spot sees Claeys edge out the most successful member of the original(ish) breakaway, Matthew Lloyd.
So the season ends, with a hard-fought race, that paced itself like a bullet-train from start to finish from start to finish. To all those getting promoted to the ProTour, I wish you the best of luck. To all those who my team will be joining in the Continental Division next year, I pity you as you face the full might of Theo Bos
