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  "description": "Japan has the money, the riders, and the races, but isn't producing WorldTour talent.",
  "path": "/japan-should-be-a-pro-cycling-power-but-its-national-tour-reveals-why-it-isnt/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-01T20:21:19.000Z",
  "site": "https://escapecollective.com",
  "tags": [
    "Big plans afoot for cycling in India as ‘world’s first’ franchise cycling league to launchNew competition to build on the back of the success of the Pune Grand Tour, with the UCI hinting at future plans for a world championships in India.Escape CollectiveDan Challis",
    "Fabbro said",
    "Subscribe now"
  ],
  "textContent": "Cor Vos\n\nShimano, Bridgestone, Panasonic, Panaracer, PEdALED. The list goes on. Japan is home to many of the world's largest cycling brands. Its domestic road racing scene is busy, too, with a swell of young cyclists getting into the sport every year. The money is there, as are the potential stars. So why isn’t Japan a major force in professional cycling?\n\nThere are currently no Japanese riders in the men's or women's WorldTour fields, and the nation does not host a WorldTour race. As cycling continues its globalisation, with impressive growth in India, Mexico, China, parts of Africa and elsewhere, Japan seems to be perfectly placed to jump on that trend.\n\nJapan’s national tour took place last week, with an iconic queen stage finish on Mount Fuji preceding a dazzling sprint finish on the streets of Tokyo. It’s a race that can capture the imagination, but it also reveals several unseen challenges that prevent this sleeping giant from producing major talents on the world stage.\n\nBig plans afoot for cycling in India as ‘world’s first’ franchise cycling league to launchNew competition to build on the back of the success of the Pune Grand Tour, with the UCI hinting at future plans for a world championships in India.Escape CollectiveDan Challis\n\nThis year, the Tour of Japan was won by former Bora-Hansgrohe rider Matteo Fabbro, who proved himself a class apart on Mount Fuji and took advantage of his Solution Tech-NIPPO-Rali squad’s power on the stage 3 team time trial. The Italian team were the only professional outfit in the race, facing off against Asia’s best continental teams and a smattering of smaller Japanese teams.\n\n“The Mount Fuji stage was the key stage, and the most important thing was not losing time on the other stages. That's how you win this race. But I have to say, the Mount Fuji stage was incredibly hard,” Fabbro said after the final day in Tokyo. “Tour of Japan is a great race and I really enjoyed racing here.”\n\nAside from the two key GC stages and an opening prologue, the rest of the race comprised of several sprint opportunities. After shocking WorldTour sprinters at the Tour of the Alps in April, Italian Tommaso Dati took three stages in his UKYO team’s home race. Countryman Nicolò Garibbo took another win for the team on stage 2. Australian Oscar Gallagher of CCACHExBODYWRAP and Germany’s Lucas Carstensen, riding for KINAN rounded out the list of stage winners.\n\n### This post is for subscribers only\n\nBecome a member to get access to all content\n\nSubscribe now",
  "title": "Japan should be a pro cycling power, but its national tour reveals why it isn’t",
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-02T13:04:59.389Z"
}