The Niseko Classic was organised for the first time ten years ago and is part of the UCI Gran Fondo World Series since 2016 in the famous ski-area on the northern island of Hokkaido.
The 150km counting as qualifier distance for all men under 50 is challenging with a lot of elevation, especially in the first half of the race.
Overall winner was Ryo Kobayashi in a time of 3h46 and an average speed of 38.77 km/h. He was the fastest in the final with a small gap to a group of 15 other riders with Kazuki Adachi in second at 5 seconds and Shota Shimano as third in the same time on the steep uphill finish for a complete Japanese podium.
In the 80km race counting as qualifier for all women, the overall victory was for Kazumi Yoneda in 2h16 and an average speed of 34.35 km/h, 4m50 faster than Ishikawa Nanami with Sakurako Fututani as third five seconds later.
Fastest men in the 50+ categories qualifying on the 80km course was Tomoki Nakatsuru from the M50-54 category in an average speed of 37.92 km/h. He outsprinted Atsushi Yamamoto and Toshihiko Watanabe.
