World Champion Peter Sagan has won the fourth Saitama Criterium in Japan.
Organised by Tour De France organisers ASO, this race featured a strong field including Tour De France winner Chris Froome and World Champion Peter Sagan who wore the green points jersey that he won in the 2016 Grand Boucle.
Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale), Marcel Kittel (Etixx-Quick Step), Michal Golas (Team Sky), Taisei Kobayahsi (Japan), Kazushige Kuboki (Nippo-Vini Fantini) and Hideto Nakane (Aisan) formed the break with Bardet getting away with 23kms to go.
Bardet's team-mate Alexis Vuillermoz and Japanese riders Fumiyuki Beppu and Yukiya Arashiro then led but with five kilometres to go, Chris Froome, Peter Sagan, Japanese champion Sho Hatsuyama and Adam Yates took control of the race and went away with Sagan taking the victory ahead of Froome and Yates.
It was a very fast start,” said Sagan. “A breakaway got caught, another one started. Eventually the race became a bit more quiet so I waited for three or four laps to go to make my move because I knew I’d suffer too much if I bridged the gap on all the attackers. We rode strongly at the end. I was the fastest of the four so it went well for me.”