Tour of Japan

The Tour of Japan is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Japan since 1996 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.1 category race.

Tour of Japan
Race details
DateMay
RegionJapan
English nameTour of Japan
Local name(s)ツアー・オブ・ジャパン (in Japanese)
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI Asia Tour 2.2
TypeStage race
OrganiserCycle Month Promotion Council
Race directorGoro Murayama
Web sitewww.toj.co.jp
History
First edition1996 (1996)
Editions25 (as of 2023)
First winner Jean-Philippe Duracka (FRA)
Most wins Fortunato Baliani (ITA)
 Samad Pourseyedi (IRI)
 Óscar Pujol (ESP)

 Nathan Earle (AUS)
(2 wins)
Most recent Nathan Earle (AUS)

History

Tour of Japan was formed as the successor of the Kokusai Cycle Road Race which began in 1982.[1] In 1996, Tour of Japan began as a UCI category 2-5 stage race,[2] and became category 2–4 in 1997. It was downgraded to category 2–5 in 2002.[3]

As the UCI race system was reformed in 2005, it was included in the UCI Asia Tour as a category 2.2 event. It became a category 2.1 event in 2013.

The race has only been cancelled three times in its history. The 2003 edition was canceled for concern over the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak, and the 2011 edition was canceled because of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The 2020 edition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2021 edition was held as a class 2.2 event and a three-day stage race with all domestic teams, exempted by the UCI from the mandatory invitation of foreign teams under Japan's international travel restrictions. The 2022 edition was held as a four-stages, class 2.2 event. It restored the eight-stages class 2.1 form in 2023. The 2024 edition is held as the eight-stages, class 2.2 event.

Past winners

General classification
Year Country Rider Team
1996  France Jean-Philippe Duracka France (national team)
1997  United States Bart Bowen Saturn
1998  United States Frank McCormack Saturn
1999  Poland Andrzej Sypytkowski Mróz
2000   Switzerland Mauro Gianetti Vini Caldirola-Sidermec
2001  Poland Paweł Niedźwiecki Mróz–Supradyn Witaminy
2002  Ukraine Oleksandr Klymenko Mróz–Supradyn Witaminy
2003 No race due to the SARS outbreak
2004  Japan Shinichi Fukushima Bridgestone Anchor
2005  Colombia Félix Cárdenas Barloworld
2006  Ukraine Vladimir Duma C.B. Immobiliare–Universal Caffè
2007  Italy Francesco Masciarelli Acqua & Sapone–Caffè Mokambo
2008  Australia Cameron Meyer SouthAustralia.com–AIS
2009  Spain Sergio Pardilla Carmiooro A Style
2010  Italy Cristiano Salerno De Rosa–Stac Plastic
2011 No race due to the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2012  Italy Fortunato Baliani Team Nippo
2013  Italy Fortunato Baliani Team Nippo–De Rosa
2014  Iran Samad Pourseyedi Tabriz Petrochemical Team
2015  Iran Samad Pourseyedi Tabriz Petrochemical Team
2016  Spain Óscar Pujol Team Ukyo
2017  Spain Óscar Pujol Team Ukyo
2018  Spain Marcos García Kinan Cycling Team
2019  Australia Chris Harper Team BridgeLane
2020 No race due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021  Japan Nariyuki Masuda Utsunomiya Blitzen
2022  Australia Nathan Earle Team Ukyo
2023  Australia Nathan Earle JCL Team Ukyo

Notes
  1. Murayama, Goro (March 2013). 日本における自転車ロードレース『ツアー・オブ・ジャパン』の歴史 [The history of the bicycle road race in Japan, about "Tour of Japan"] (PDF). 自転車文化センター研究報告書 (in Japanese) (5). Bicycle Culture Center.
  2. "2001 6th Tour of Japan". Tour of Japan Organizing Committee. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  3. NEXT TOJ 〜TOJの歴史を振り返る〜 Vol.68. 2017-04-09. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
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