Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) launched from the leading group on the final climb of the Utsunomiya Japan Cup and then rode solo to finish the season with a victory at the 1.Pro race.
Martinez crossed the line with plenty of time in had to celebrate, carving out a 32 second gap to second-placed Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) who outsprinted Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) to the line. Mathys Rondel (Tudor Pro Cycling), Alessandro Fancellu (Team Ukyo) and Riley Sheehan (Israel Premier-Tech) were the only other riders within a minute of the winner in the race where the 14 passes of the Kogashiyama climb shattered the field.
"It was the last race of the season and I am super happy to win for the team, for the staff and also for me," said Martinez. "We finish the season super well and that's super good for the winter."
The Japan Cup takes place over 14 laps of a 10km course, with the climb of Kogashiyama kicking in right at the start of the lap and acting quickly to break up the field. All in all it makes for a highly attritional day of racing, one which is a legacy of the 1990 Road World Championships held in Utsunomiya.
"The selection was a bit natural and every lap was less riders so it was a super hard race," said Martinez in an interview on the podium.
Martinez had come through to start the second last lap – at 20km to go – with a leading group of seven including Baudin, Sheehan, Rondel, Izagirre, Fancellu and Sam Mainsonobe (Cofidis) plus with a slightly larger chase group including Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla) not that far behind. Meanwhile, the bulk of the field was already sitting more than three minutes back and out of contention.
By the final lap it was down to six, Maisonobe having tailed off after his efforts for teammate Izagirre, but once they got the bell and headed onto the final climb Martinez wasn't content to stay with the group for long. When he initially charged Baudin stuck to his wheel but the Bahrain Victorious rider kept the pressure on and snapped the elastic band, cresting the climb solo and then pushing hard into the descent with Baudin and Izagirre joining forces behind.
There was no catching Martinez, however, as he added one more win to a season which had already included stage victories at Criterium du Dauphine. Tour de Romandie and Paris-Nice.
