ツアー・オブ・ジャパン 2026

Dati Extends Overall Lead with back-to-back stage wins

The JPF Kyoto Stage, the first massed road race of this year’s Tour of Japan, concluded with a four-rider sprint after uphill section on the final lap climb. Wearing the overall leader’s jersey, Tommaso Dati of TEAM UKYO claimed his second consecutive stage victory, further extending his lead in the general classification.

The stage started from Fugenji Fureai Station and, following a 6.6km parade section, covered six laps of the 16.8km Keihanna Plaza circuit in Seika Town for a total distance of 103.6km. The race also featured the first King of the Mountains points competition of this year’s event.

Numerous attacks were launched during the opening lap, but only two riders managed to establish a breakaway: 18-year-old Sota Yoshida of the Japan National Team and Giacomo Garavaglia of Swatt Club. Genki Yamamoto of KINAN Racing Team also attempted to break away from the pack, but these attempts were unsuccessful.

With less than 70km remaining, the leading pair had built an advantage of approximately two and a half minutes. Shortly afterwards, however, Yoshida was unable to maintain Garavaglia’s pace and dropped back. The main peloton, led by riders from Yukiya Arashiro of Solution Tech Vini Fantini and Li Ning Star, gradually began to reduce the gap to the lone leader.
On the rolling terrain before the final lap, riders from Terengganu Cycling Team launched a series of attacks that intensified the race. Soon after, TEAM UKYO increased the pace on the final KOM climb, bringing Garavaglia back into the peloton.

Last year’s overall runner-up Simone Raccani of TEAM UKYO set a fierce tempo on the climb, shattering the peloton. After the descent, four riders emerged at the front: Tommaso Dati and Federico Iacomoni (both TEAM UKYO), Benjami Prades Reverter of VC Fukuoka, and Rein Taaramäe of KINAN Racing Team. The chasing group failed to organize effectively, leaving the stage victory to be decided in a four-man sprint.

Dati launched his sprint first and successfully held off the late acceleration from Prades to secure the win. Having already demonstrated his sprinting ability this season by defeating Tom Piddock, Dati once again showcased his finishing speed to take back-to-back victories.

Garavaglia, who crossed both KOM points first during the stage, earned the first mountains classification jersey of the race. Meanwhile, Wil Heath of CCACHE X Bodywrap finished 15th in the peloton and moved into the lead of the young rider classification.    

Tommaso Dati (TEAM UKYO)
Stage Winner / General Classification Leader (Green Jersey) / Points Classification Leader (Blue Jersey)
“The gap I gained yesterday in the general classification was still quite small, so today the plan was to go for the sprint and increase the advantage. I asked my teammates to attack on the final climb to reduce the size of the group. At the top of the climb I was fourth wheel, and after the descent the group split, leaving four of us at the front. I originally started the sprint for Iacomoni, but when Prades came alongside, I switched to sprinting for myself and managed to win.”

Giacomo Garavaglia (Swatt Club) Mountains Classification Leader (Red Jersey)
“I hoped more riders would join the breakaway, but even after I was alone I continued to push all the way to the finish. Once I got into the break, my goal became securing the mountains jersey. After being caught at the final KOM, I fought simply to stay with the group and then tried to support my teammate in the sprint.”

Will Heath (CCACHE x Bodywrap) Best Young Rider (White Jersey)
“The level of the race is very high this year, especially the speed in the final part compared to last season. Li Ning Star and TEAM UKYO increased the pace on the climbs and made the race very hard. The final 30 minutes were really tough.”

JPF Kyoto Stage – Stage Results
1. Tommaso Dati (TEAM UKYO) – 2h 39m 06s 
2. Benjamin Prades Reverter (VC Fukuoka) – same time 
3. Federico Iacomoni (TEAM UKYO) – same time 
General Classification
1. Tommaso Dati (TEAM UKYO) – 2h 41m 53s 
2. Federico Iacomoni (TEAM UKYO) – +10s 
3. Benjamin Prades Reverter (VC Fukuoka) – +16s 

Points Classification
1. Tommaso Dati (TEAM UKYO) – 35 pts 
2. Benjamin Prades Reverter (VC Fukuoka) – 20 pts 
3. Federico Iacomoni (TEAM UKYO) – 18 pts 

Mountains Classification
1.Giacomo Garavaglia (Swatt Club) – 10 pts 
2.Nicolo Garibbo (TEAM UKYO) – 3 pts 
3. Kanata Yoshida (Japan National Team) – 3 pts 

Young Rider Classification
1.Will Heath (CCACHE x Bodywrap) 
2.Masao Shimazaki (Japan National Team) 
3.Kanta Umezawa (Japan National Team) 

RTA Award　Sota Yoshida (Japan National Team)