Il Lombardia may be known as the race that marks the end of the season, but among those who have chosen to end the season in the Japan Cup are Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep), Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech), Rui Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Premier Tech). (-Trek) and the last Straller is still unfolding.

The Japan Cup and Italy's Veneto Classic will close this year's Men's Professional Race on Sunday As the last race of the World Tour, the tour of Guangxi continues to unfold in China. The 164.8km road race, which starts and finishes in Utsunomiya City, repeated 16 laps of the 10.3km course, making a major contribution to the elevation rise of about 3,000 meters.

Last year, the event was won by Neilson Powless, who escaped solo while EF Education-EasyPost teammate Andrea Piccolo crossed the line in the 2nd. Paurese, who finished the season in Canada last month, will not defend the title, but Piccolo will be on the deck for the US-based team along with James Shaw, another strong performer in last year's race.

The 2019 winner Bauke Mollema also stood on the start line with lidl-Trek teammate Ciccone, and Maxim Van Gils, who was ranked 5th last year, is in line for Lotto–Dstny after coming to 14th place in Il Lombardia. This was the 13th place ahead of Costa, the best result of the Intermarche Circus Wanti rider to date and the continuation of the strong late-season form that won Stage 15 of the Vuelta a España.

Alaphilippe has also made the trip after last weekend's Il Lombardia, and his first appearance in the Japanese race has ended a difficult season. Faust Masnada, who was 5th in Coppa Bernocchi and 20th in Il Lombardy, is also part of the team's lineup. Then there's Iran Van Wilder, who is supposed to be one of the riders seen on the field after the attack that won his canny race at Trevally Vallezin earlier this month. The team wants the momentum from Italy to hold it in place of good in Japan. "Certainly, the motivation is there and we will try to do our best," Soudal-QuickStep Sports Director Davide Bramati said in a statement. "Some people come here after a solid outing in the Italian one-day race and are willing to end the season with a strong ride and great results."

The other 7 World tour teams and 3 pro・term riders in the race include Riley Sheahan, who has been alongside Israel's top tech teammate Froome fresh since his first career victory at Parritur. Eddie Dunbar and Lucas Hamilton line up for Jayco-AlUla and Bahrain Victory for Home Nation rider Yukiya Kojo for their 11th race.

There will also be a 37.5km criterion on Saturday to kick off the race before Sunday's One-day Road event, which was first run in 1992. This year marks the 30th time the Japan Cup has been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the spread of the new coronavirus.