Japanese track riders to take on SBS Tour of Southland
“They’ve just come off the Asian Games and won six of their endurance events. So they are going good.”
The 2023 SBS Bank Tour of Southland will start on October 29. In the lead-up to the event, The Tribune is running a series of Tour Countdown stories.
The 2023 SBS Bank Tour of Southland will have a Japanese flavour attached to it.
Four Japanese endurance track riders are set to line up in New Zealand’s premier road cycling race.
Former Cycling Southland coach Ross Machejefski has worked with the Japan team which prompted discussions about coming to New Zealand for the iconic Tour of Southland.
Race director Glen Thomson said the four riders had pretty impressive CVs.
“They’ve just come off the Asian Games and won six of their endurance events. So they are going good.”
Kazushige Kuboki, 34, a professional Keirin rider, headlines the visitors. He was second in the scratch race at last year’s World Track Cycling Championships.
Shunsuke Imamura, 25, is the Asian champion in the omnium and finished third at this year’s World Championships in that event.
At 22 years old Naoki Kojima is the youngest of the Japanese riders who will take on the SBS Tour of Southland as part of the Japanese team sponsored by Ray White and Daiken.
Shoi Matsuda, 23, is the fourth of the Japanese riders. He is an Asian champion in the team pursuit.
Thomson said the attraction of the tour for the Japanese riders was about the good preparation for future events.
“It’s really good, and it always had been for our endurance riders as well, it sets them up well for the summer.
“A tour like this late in the season sets them up well for next season. They’ve got some really important track racing coming up.”
The Japanese quartet will be joined by Southland’s Hayden Strong and Oliver Watson-Palmer of Queenstown as part of the Japan team in the Tour of Southland.
Strong is the brother of Corbin Strong who this year rode in his first Tour de France.
Thompson is a big fan of Hayden Strong.
“He’s going good, and he is sort of realised looking across at his brother and he has come on well.
“He’s just on the cusp, he’ll do the tour here and then head back overseas again next year and try and crack into it.”
On top of the Japanese visitors the 2023 SBS Bank Tour of Southland will also include a bunch of Australian riders as well as some riders from France.
All up 19 teams of six riders have entered this year’s race starting on October 29.