"READY STEADY TOKYO" A heated mountain bike race
The Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee's test event "READY STEADY TOKYO" held its cycling competition (MTB: Mountain Bike) on October 6th at the Izu MTB Course within the Japan Cycle Sports Center in Shizuoka Prefecture, which will also serve as the official venue. Approximately 100 top athletes from Japan and abroad participated.
(Image ⓒ Fort Kishimoto)
The Izu MTB Course, with a total length of 4 kilometers and an elevation change of approximately 180 meters, hosted races where men completed 6 laps and women 4 laps. Sections of the course were named with local references, such as "Amagi Crossing" (featuring intense ups and downs), "Cherry Blossom Scatter" (a downhill with jumps), and "Dancing Girl Pathway."
The event was positioned as an International Cycling Union (UCI) sanctioned race. Unusually for a test event, it drew a lively atmosphere with around 1,000 spectators, recruited in advance by Shizuoka Prefecture, packing the stands to watch the heated competition unfold.
Nino Schurter (Switzerland) won the men's race, and Yvonne Neff (Switzerland) won the women's race.
Four Japanese men competed, but only Kohei Yamamoto finished, placing 35th. None of the three Japanese women completed the race.
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