Quinn Simmons ends an impressive season with a win at the Japan Cup

The finale of the road season is always jam-packed. In Europe, the season will wrap up with the Eneco Tour, the Chrono des Nations, and the Veneto Classic, but in Asia, there was the Tour of Guangxi as well as the Japan Cup. The one-day race north of the capital, Tokyo, can certainly be called a semi-classic, with winners such as Bauke Mollema (twice), Neilson Powless, and Lenny Martinez.

It’s a tough course in Japan, with Mount Kogashiyama as the deciding factor. It’s not that difficult, but to tackle a 1.6-kilometer climb with a 6.7 percent gradient fourteen times… It really takes a toll on your legs.

And all that in just 140 kilometers! And who was the first to attack? Quinn Simmons. The American from Lidl-Trek was really up for it.

He didn't end up making it into the early breakaway, but his younger brother Colby (EF Education-EasyPost) did.

Colby was part of a group of fifteen that included Lars Craps (Lotto-Intermarché), Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek), and Adam Rafferty (Jayco AlUla). But Simmons Sr. was eager to move up, and launched another attack halfway through the race.

Once again, I wasn’t able to break away, but Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto-Intermarché), and Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) managed to do so.

Later, the U.S. champion finally made his move, launching an attack alongside Healy with thirty kilometers to go. The pair proved to be the strongest riders on the climb.

Healy was in a tough spot, because with his mediocre sprint, he stood little chance against the speedy Simmons. In the final lap, he tried to break away from him several times, but that’s not something you can just do.

And so Simmons was able to easily finish it off in the sprint. Healy had to settle for second place; the final spot on the podium went to Berckmoes.