The Japan Cup is Japan’s leading international one-day road race, held around Utsunomiya in Tochigi Prefecture since 1992. Its compact, demanding circuit winds through the forested hills outside the city, combining repeated climbing with an atmosphere that has made the event a distinctive fixture on the Asian cycling calendar.
Around the Peloton explores the Japan Cup through the landscape and history surrounding its circuit, from ancient shrines and rural communities to Utsunomiya’s development as a modern cycling city. The race also carries the legacy of the 1990 UCI Road World Championships, connecting today’s event with an important moment in the emergence of elite road cycling in Japan.
The Japan Cup occupies an unusual place on the professional cycling calendar. By the middle of October, the great European stage races are long finished and most of the autumn classics have already disappeared into history for another year, yet…
