Trek Factory Racing's Bauke Mollema has won the Japan Cup Road race.
A 144.2kms long race, made up of fourteen laps of a 10.3-kilometre course, attracted the big teams including Team Sky who had Berni Eisel making his last appearance for them and saw Bauke Mollema taking the win in Utsunomiya.
The Trek Factory Racing rider led a four-man move which broke clear on the final Kogashi forest road ascent and then outpaced Diego Ulissi (Lampre Merida) and home favourite Yukiya Arashiro (Japan national team) to win in a time of 3.53.40.
Fourth was BMC's Floris Gerts with Jan Polanc fifth and Ben Swift in ninth place.
A delighted Mollema said: “I was just following attacks until the last time up the climb, and then I saved all my energy for the finish. I knew it would most likely come to a sprint with a small group and it was better to save all my energy for this, but I still was not sure to win because the others were faster than me. But in the end I was strong enough to do it.
“The race was hard, but the team did such a great job; the guys pulled hard all race to bring back the breakaway. I am happy that I could pay them back with a win, and also for all the fans. This is my first time in Japan, and I have to say that the fans are just unbelievable, just crazy for cycling, it was really nice to see. I have enjoyed being here a lot, and now with this win, and also yesterday with Fumy’s [Beppu] win, it has been just a really great experience.”