BiciRace.com :: 2005 Japan Cup

2005 Japan Cup, Report

Japan Cup, Japan

23 October, 151.3K

Cunego Ends Year With Win

Cunego Wins In Japan, photo: CyclingTime.com

The Piccolo Principe, Damiano Cunego, ended his season with a superb win in Japan. The Lampre-Caffita rider out-gunned Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears) in the Japan Cup. Cunego (24) will now leave Utsonomiya and approach the winter break on a positive note.

Last year in Utsonomiya Cunego finished second to the German, Patrick Sinkewitz. It was at the end of a successful 2004, a year which saw the rider from Verona win big in the Giro d'Italia and the Giro di Lombardia. This year has been a different story: Cunego struggled through the early season with mononucleosis before picking up a few fall wins. The entire rear-end of the 2005 season was going slowly upwards, ending today with a peak, a win in the Japan Cup.

Cunego Confirms, photo: CyclingTime.com

The race was held on the roads of Utsonomiya (where the 1990 Worlds were contested): There were 10 loops of 14.1K and then a final of 10.3K. Early on there was a group of six locals to break free. The Japanese escape of six stayed free until the final two loops, when the big euro ProTour teams shut it down.

The top guys were there: Patrik Sinkewitz (Quick-Step), Cristian Moreni (Quick-Step), Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Caffita), Marco Marzano (Lampre-Caffita), Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears), Pablo Lastras (Illes Balears), Manuele Mori (Saunier Duval-Prodir) and José Angel Gomez Marchante (Saunier Duval-Prodir). From these riders it was Paco Mancebo and Kid Cunego to light up the finale. Mancebo put in a dig on an uphill that only Cunego could follow. The two traded attacks before Cunego put in the final death blow.

Finale, photo: CyclingTime.com

By the line Kid Cunego had 3" on Mancebo (stage winner in the Tour) and 27" on Cristian Moreni (Quick-Step). Last year's winner, Sinkewitz, finished in sixth. It was also a solid end to the season for the German, who will transfer to T-Mobile in the winter.

Results: 4:05', ave 36.91 K/hr
1 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
2 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears 0.03
3 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Quick-Step 0.27
4 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Illes Balears 0.43
5 Manuele Mori (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
6 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) Quick-Step 0.44
7 Tashiro Yasutaka (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor 0.51
8 Morris Possoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 1.51
9 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor
10 Kam-Po Wong (Hkg) Team Hong Kong 1.52
11 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
12 Makoto Iijima (Jpn) Sumitra Ravanello Pearl Izumi
13 Julio Garcia (Spa) Madeinox-A.R. Canelas
14 Kazuyuki Manabe (Jpn) Team Nippo 1.53
15 Kazuya Okazaki (Jpn) Team Nippo
16 San Wu Kin (HKg)
17 Patxi Vila (Spa) Lampre-Caffita 1.54
18 Hidenori Nodera (Jpn) Shimano-Memory Corp
19 Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Team Japan 1.55
20 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Shimano-Memory Corp 2.01
21 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Shimano-Memory Corp 2.18
22 Joan Horrach (Spa) Illes Balears 2.21
23 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) Team Japan 2.33
24 Yusuke Shimizu (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor 3.09
25 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 3.42
26 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
27 Ken Hashikawa (Jpn) Kinan CCD 6.37
28 Koji Fukushima (Jpn) Bridgestone Anchor 6.38
29 Mashahiro Shinagawa (Jpn) Shimano-Memory Corp
30 Yoshimasa Hirose (Jpn) Shimano-Memory Corp
31 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Illes Balears 6.39
32 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 6.41
33 Hing Chan Chun (HKg) Team Hong Kong 9.20
34 Akira Kakinuma (Jpn) Myata Subaru 9.26
35 Kojiro Nakagawa (Jpn) Myata Subaru
36 Davide Bramati (Ita) Quick-Step
37 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Quick-Step 9.27
38 Ching Wong Ngai (HKg) Team Hong Kong
39 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick-Step 9.28
40 Takumi Beppu (Jpn) Team Japan
41 Masahiko Mifune (Jpn) Myata Subaru
42 Rubén Lobato (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 12.14