ツアー・オブ・ジャパン 2026

No Rival for the Overall Leader – Tommaso Dati Takes His Third Victory of the Tour　

Stage 5 of the Tour of Japan 2026, the Watahan Shinshu Iida Stage, marked the beginning of the second half of the race as well as the true start of the battle for the general classification. After the opening lap, the riders tackled nine laps of the 12.2km circuit for a total distance of 120.9km. With its repeated climbs and descents, the stage is traditionally known as a tough survival race.

The Shinshu Iida Stage is also a key battleground not only for the individual general classification, but also for the mountains and points competitions. Reflecting the different strategies of each team, a large breakaway group of 15 riders formed during the stage.

Among them were Giacomo Garavaglia (Swatt Club), who started the day in 5th overall at 41 seconds behind while wearing the mountains jersey, Mathias BREGNHØJ (Terengganu Cycling Team), who sat 10th overall at 50 seconds down, and Genki Yamamoto (KINAN Racing Team), who was targeting the mountains classification.

Yamamoto crossed the first KOM point on lap two in first place to add valuable points. Against Swatt Club, who had 3 riders in the breakaway, he shows performance that overcomes the numerical disadvantage. The leading group built an advantage of around two and a half minutes, but the gap gradually decreased lap after lap.

Yamamoto again took maximum points at the KOM on lap five, moving closer to securing the KOM jersey at the end of the day. Meanwhile, cooperation inside the breakaway began to collapse. Before the KOM on lap seven, Nils Sinschek (Li Ning Star) attacked solo and crossed the third KOM point first, starting a lone move.

Sinschek continued strongly at the front heading into the final lap. Behind him, the main peloton, reduced to fewer than 30 riders after catching the remaining breakaway riders, saw overall leader Tommaso Dati (TEAM UKYO) increase the pace. Only Matteo Fabbro (Solution Tech NIPPO LALI) could follow him, and the pair caught Sinschek just before the KOM point.

The peloton failed to organize a chase, and the stage victory came down to 3-man sprint. Dati, already a two-time stage winner in this year’s race, secured the victory with confidence, taking his third win of the Tour in dominant fashion.

The main group finished 11 seconds later. As a result, Dati also moved into the lead of the points classification. Genki Yamamoto wore the mountains jersey for the first time in this year’s race, while there was no change in the young rider classification.

Stage Winner / General Classification Leader (Green Jersey) / Points Classification Leader (Blue Jersey)
Tommaso Dati (TEAM UKYO) Comments:
“I’ve been aiming for stage victories all along, but people are saying that maybe I can also fight for the overall victory if I keep going well. Honestly, I still don’t know if I can really win the GC. Tomorrow I will push myself as hard as possible, and if I can still stay at the front, then I will try. If someone has an exceptionally good day tomorrow, I could lose the jersey. So all I can do is give my best every day. I still want to win more stages, but I also want my teammates to win.”

Mountains Classification Leader (Red Jersey)
Genki Yamamoto (KINAN Racing Team) Comments:
“Today’s stage offered the biggest amount of KOM points, so if I couldn’t take them today, my chances would probably disappear. Everything went well overall today. Since two riders from Swatt Club, who are my direct rivals for the KOM classification, were also in the breakaway, I went full gas for the first KOM sprint.”

Young Rider Classification Leader (White Jersey)
Will Heath (CCACHE X BODYWRAP) Comments:
“I thought the breakaway would fight for the stage win today. Most of the day was manageable, but the final laps were very hard. I couldn’t follow the two riders who attacked, but I gave everything on the climbs and I’m happy I was able to stay with the group.”

Watahan Shinshu Iida Stage Results
1. Tommaso Dati (TEAM UKYO) – 2:59:16 
2. Matteo Fabbro (Solution Tech NIPPO LALI) – +0s 
3. Nils Sinchek (Li Ning Star) – +0s 

Individual General Classification (Green Jersey)
1. Tommaso Dati (TEAM UKYO) – 6:00:38 
2. Federico Iacomoni (TEAM UKYO) – +31s 
3. Benjami Prades Reverter (VC Fukuoka) – +49s 

Individual Points Classification (Blue Jersey)
1. Tommaso Dati (TEAM UKYO) – 64 pts 
2. Benjami Prades Reverter (VC Fukuoka) – 48 pts 
3. Nicolo Garibbo (TEAM UKYO) – 45 pts 

Individual Mountains Classification (Red Jersey)
1. Genki Yamamoto (KINAN Racing Team) – 26 pts 
2. Francesco Carolo (Swatt Club) – 23 pts 
3. Giacomo Garavaglia (Swatt Club) – 16 pts 

Individual Young Rider Classification (White Jersey)
1. Will Heath (CCACHE X BODYWRAP) 
2. Masao Shimazaki (Japan National Team) 
3. Oscar Gallagher (CCACHE X BODYWRAP) 

RTA Award: Masao Shimazaki (Japan National Team)