Day 6 -- Victory for British Champion Kristian House

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Tour of Japan, Day 6, by Paul Rowlands for team Rapha Condor Sharp

Epic - It’s how we roll

Superlatives are often chucked around commentary booths and press rooms with casual abandon and whilst it’s rare that any victory is underserved, there’s an easy way to do things and there’s a tough way. Today Rapha Condor Sharp won and we did it the tough way.

After the disappointment of Mt Fuji, the men in black gathered in their dormitory at the Japanese Keirin school and hatched a plan. Take the time lost on the mountain and turn it to their advantage because with distance comes freedom, the freedom to attack and perhaps enough to win. Stage 6 of the race took place in and around the Japanese Keirin School, a vast site that boasts 3 outdoor all weather velodromes, BMX, 4X, Downhill and cross country courses as well as the 12km road circuit around which todays stage would roll.

In addition, if all that  failed to entertain, the venue is also home to a theme park, crazy golf course and no doubt many other delights we didn’t have time to sample this time around. So, as the bunch rolled away from the start of the stage today with 100km of racing ahead of them, it wasn’t surprising to hear numbers 11 & 12 being called over race radio after just 4km as a group of nine clipped away from the front of the peloton, quickly amassing a lead of 35 seconds as the De Rosa team of Salerno seemed content to ride tempo at the front of the pack.

The next lap however delivered a major surprise as race radio sparked into life and announced that there was one lone leader, number 12, Darren Lapthorne of Rapha Condor Sharp. In the team car, at that stage still behind the main bunch, there was a brief double take as manager looked at press officer and press officer looked at manager, each wondering if what we’d heard was correct.

After a tense wait, the next time check at 13km revealed that Darren was indeed the lone leader on the road and that he already had a lead of 40 seconds over his erstwhile companions who now in turn led the main bunch by 1 minute and 50 seconds. A tense wait ensued in the car as we counted the kilometres until we were called forward, something that eventually happened after 26km.

Passing the bunch on this circuit was an experience that would easily compete with the thrill and excitement of any of the roller-coasters and fairground rides that make up this surreal facility as the squeal of tyres mingled with the horns of the TV and commissaire motos who constantly push forward to maintain a sterile bubble between riders on the road.

Passing the chase group, including Kristian, we moved quickly up to Darren, reaching him at around the 30km mark to see for ourselves how the rider who had looked so laboured the day before had transformed himself into the animator of the race just 24 hours later. Darren, who had been in pensive mood before the start of the stage looked in through the window of the team car as we drew alongside and before John had chance to ask how he was feeling left us in no uncertainty as to who would be dictating the race today:

“We're gonna win this bloody thing” was all we got from Darren before he crested the brow of the climb and dived once more into the tucked descending position that enabled him to travel faster than any car or moto, but more importantly faster, than the bunch as the kilometers disappeared rapidly under our wheels.

We back dropped to Kristian’s group some 55 seconds back now and relayed the news. John simply shouted “Dude, he’s good” and Kristian knew he’d have no work to do for a few laps at least as Darren continued to tap out a rhythm that no-one else could follow for now. Over the coming laps, the chase group shed weaker riders each time the race reared uphill until just three riders were left in pursuit of the lead. Number 106 Hiratsuka of Shimano and 95 Shimizu of Bridgestone Anchor and ... number 11, British Road Race Champion Kristian House, who sat on the back, contributing nothing to the chase.

The gap between Darren and his three chasers hovered between 35 and 40 sconds until just before the 45km mark when the gap began to close and John Herety gave the order to wait for the chasers, leaving a quartet of leaders to share the lead and the load for the next few circuits of the course. Back in the bunch, the De Rosa team continued to ride tempo at the front of the group limiting the lead of the break to around the two and a half minute mark until as the 60 kilometre mark loomed, those teams whose top ten positions on GC were now under threat and those still in need of a stage win began to attack.

This flurry of activity saw the lead of the front four begin to erode and sensing the danger John Herety moved forward to deliver the last team talk of the day, ordering them not to wait if they were able to distance any of their co-escapees, uphill or down. Shimizu was the first to capitulate, losing touch on a short rise and then, despite battling honourably and holding the gap at 15 seconds for several kilometers, gradually drifting back to the bunch. John in the team car meanwhile delivered the last supplies of drinks and SIS gels to the riders before feeding was shut down at the 20km to go mark.

The three riders now left at the head of the race now continued to cooperate until at at kilometre 76, Kristian attacked on the run in to the start/finish area, establishing an eight second lead and leaving Darren to take his turn at playing the role of team mate, sitting on the wheel of Hiratsuka as he attempted to claw back the reigning British National Champion.

Gradually Kristian's lead increased over the next few kilometres until at kilometre 85 and with 15 left to race, he had a 30 second advantage over his chasers and a further 45 over the main bunch. We approached the start finish area for the penultimate time, the bell rung and traditional Japanese drums beat out a rhythm that we hoped would be enough to propel Kristian to victory.

We moved alongside, doused him with water, encouraged, cajoled, threatened, anything to coax a little more momentum from our loan leader until finally, called out by the commissaire we pulled over to the side of the road, nothing left to do now except watch the bunch pass and wait for an announcement from race radio as we rolled in behind the main bunch.

As the bunch passed the 500m to go banner, we finally heard the words we’d wanted as race radio announced “race number 11 Kristian House of Rapha Condor wins”.

Video Interview with Kristian House

Epic.