Japan Cup preview

Welcome to Tsukuba, Japan for the 15th edition of the Japan Cup! Even as one of the longest running races on the MGUCI calendar, we have yet to see a repeat winner. This year we that could very well change as we have two previous winners at the start line with a shot at winning: Alexey Lutsenko and the man with the home ground advantage Tomohiro Kinoshita. A race that is traditionally raced on a hilly route, and this year's parcours are no different:

Here are the favourites for the 2022 Japan Cup:

Top Favourites

With such a deep startlist, I have broken it down into a couple of sections. First up and probably the top favourite for this edition of the race, we have the man in form M A Lopez. He's coming here after very recently winning the hill-heavy Balkans Tour and will hope to put his name on the winner's list for the first time in what may only be his second race participation here. He has some ok support with riders like Blums and Sergis who should be able to keep him safely at the front of the peloton until the race heats up.

The Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko has a little bit of history with this race, winning the 2020 edition and also finishing in the top-10 on to other occasions - 2018 & 2021. Lutsenko has had a decent season and will be hoping to continue it here. He has a very strong kick and can finish strong and fast - characteristics that will greatly benefit him on this course. He has a deep team full of terrific climbers and puncheurs to support his endeavor of being the first rider to have two Japan Cups in his trophy cabinet.

Sean De Bie arrives in Japan alongside his Aegon team with a purpose. He has struggled to assert himself this season over his rivals and as a result, his team are in need of a good result here. He is an incredibly strong and versatile rider, and should definitely be a factor in the finish. De Bie finished in the top-10 here last season and will surely be dreaming of more and will be hoping of a maiden victory in Tsukuba.

Hometown hero Tomohiro Kinoshita is the most consistent rider in Japan Cup history: since 2016, he's finished on the podium every year bar one (2016) where he finished a measly 4th to add to his 2018 victory - impressive! He also arrives in the Kant� region with a team in need of a good result, with his Voyagin team sitting at the wrong end of the PCT table. He's of course another terrific rider and genuine contender, and his ability to always show up for his home race cannot be overlooked.

Kwiatkowski has had a great season and will be hoping for that to continue with a good result here. He'll hope for a hard race as he doesn't have as potent a kick as others and also isn't the fastest finisher. Skujins and Mohoric are both similarly strong puncheurs and should both be in contention for the win. Skujins has not lived up to his abilities this season, whereas Mohoric has quietly had a successful season. He finished 19th here last season and will want to greatly improve on that result this time around.

Vakoc, while on paper probably not the strongest rider here, always manages to sniff out a good result and cannot be discounted here. Jensen finished on the podium behind Kinoshita in 2019 and is in with a good shot of taking the victory if the race plays out the right way. He is fast, but also has a super aggressive riding style so it will be interesting to see what strategy he brings to Japan. Benoot and Buchmann are both formed in a similar mould to Kwiatowski, but with less acceleration ability. Buchmann finished 23rd here last season, and Benoot 12th the season before that. Both riders will be looking to significantly improve on those results, Benoot especially with his off-season focus on the hills having already been on show throughout the season. Buchmann brings Muller with him, a very handy super domestique to have in a race like this.

Maybe surprisingly Gerts and Meurisse have to be in consideration for a good result after both achieving solid top-10 results in previous seasons. Eiking is a traditional puncheur and very similar rider to Jensen. On his day he is a terrific rider and is more than capable of achieving something great here. Tejay Van Garderen finished on the podium ahead of Kinoshita here in 2017, but age has gotten the better of him since. He has had a bit of a renaissance in PCT this season and as such it wouldn't be at all surprising to see him climb back onto the podium for maybe the last time.
Turgis is a hard rider to place - his climbing ability is not up to par with most others, but the combination of his other abilities just works. He hasn't raced here before, and is one to look out for if it's gruppo compacto going into the final climb.

Paulinho had had a moderately successful season with Binance who are looking to him here to help solidify their promotion push. They are just in front of Cedevita and Carlsberg, the latter racing here with Jensen and will presuably be marked heavily and watched closely by the Portuguese man. Waeytens is here for Trans with some decent support with riders like Calmejane, who may even contest the leadership with him. He will be hoping for a strong end to the season here in Japan. Chernetskiy is Crabbe's ace to play here, he has the ability to compete on his day and will hope to turn up ready.