Following the cancellation of the event in Montevideo, the World Cup in Miyazaki will be the penultimate race on the circuit in 2023. In addition, it represents the third and final stop on the Asian swing of autumn World Cups.
After races in Chengdu and Tongyeong, as well as a long season hitherto, the athletes will be ready for a final roll of the dice in Japan. However, in contrast to last year’s Sprint event, this year the athletes will tackle the Olympic distance.
The entire men’s podium from the 2022 race is slated to return, while the women’s silver medallist, Ilaria Zane, will race.
Who’s there?
Leading the men’s field will be Gianluca Pozzatti, the defending gold medallist. Pozzatti is coming off a 19th place at the WTCS Final in Pontevedra and will lead a strong Italian team. Racing alongside him will be Michele Sarzilla, Nicolo Strada and Nicola Azzano.
The remaining medallists, Ricardo Batista and Alberto Gonzalez Garcia, will also be back.
Batista will be alone on the Portuguese men’s team while Gonzalez will be part of a talented Spanish squad. David Castro Fajardo and Sergio Baxter Cabrera will be racing, as will Esteban Basanta Fouz and Nan Oliveras.
When it comes to more recent medallists, Germany can lay claim to two big names.
Simon Henseleit, the newly-crowned World U23 champion, and Tim Hellwig, the runner-up at the WTCS Final, are both slated to start. Joining them will be Lasse Nygaard Priester, Valentin Wernz and Jonas Schomburg, all of whom have medalled since the start of August.
Australia will be sending a four man team consisting of Jacob Birtwhistle, Oscar Dart, Luke Willian and Brandon Copeland. Several other teams will be sending quartets.
Morgan Pearson, Brent Demarest, John Reed and Ka’eo Kruse will form the American team while Max Studer, Adrien Briffod, Simon Westermann and Fabian Meeusen will start for Switzerland.
Csongor Lehmann, Márk Dévay, Bence Bicsák and Gábor Faldum will race for Hungary and Tyler Mislawchuk will lead the Canadian quartet alongside Clayton Hutchins, Jeremy Briand and Aiden Longcroft-Harris. Should any of the teams lack entertainment in Miyazaki, they at least have the numbers to form a series of barbershop quartets.
Yanis Seguin, Maxime Hueber Moosbrugger and Valentin Morlec will be racing for France. Tjebbe Kaindl and Alois Knabl will then comprise the Austrian male representation.
Alex Yee and Jonathan Brownlee have been entered for Britain. Following previous form, both can be expected to withdraw.
On the women’s side, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Kate Waugh and Beth Potter have been entered for Britain. However, there is a strong chance that none of them will race.
In terms of recent form, Lisa Tertsch may be the athlete to watch. The German finished 4th at the WTCS Final and in doing so secured her place on the Olympic team. Joining her in Miyazaki will be Anabel Knoll and Lena Meißner.
Bianca Seregni won the World Cup in Weihai in August. She will lead an Italian team containing Alice Betto, Verena Steinhauser and the defending silver medallist, Ilaria Zane.
Miriam Casillas Garcia, Cecilia Santamaria Surroca and Maria Casals Mojica will also look to get onto the podium for Spain. Australia will send Charlotte McShane, Sophie Linn, Ellie Hoitink, Jaz Hedgeland and Kira Hedgeland to Miyazaki.
The Americas champion Gina Sereno and Erica Ackerlund will race for the USA while the African Sprint champion, Vicky Van Der Merwe, will race for South Africa, as will Hannah Newman and Shanae Williams. The European Super Sprint champion, Mathilde Gautier, will then start for France alongside Lea Coninx.
Among the athlete to be the only female representatives for their country are Claire Michel, Xinyu Lin, Sophia Howell, Ainsley Thorpe Julie Derron and Melanie Santos.
Main talking points
The home team
The Japanese athletes starting will get another chance to race in front of home crowds some five months after WTCS Yokohama. On the men’s side, several members of the team will be confident of landing on the podium.
Takumi Hojo won the World Cup in Yeongdo while Kenji Nener arrives having finished as the top ranked Japanese man in the WTCS. He ultimately took 15th overall.
Moreover, Makoto Odakura medalled at the World Cup in Weihai.
Throw in the running speed of Aoba Yasumatsu, cycling power of Jumpei Furuya and strength of Ren Sato and there is plenty for the team to be optimistic about.
The women’s team will be led by Niina Kishimoto, after her twin Asia Cup wins, and Yuko Takahashi, who led Japan in the WTCS standings.
With Juri Ide, Yuka Sato, Hiraku Fukuoka, Minori Ikeno and Miyu Sakai also racing, the team balances experience and the promise of youth in equal order.
Schomburg vs Priester
Germany has one slot left to assign for the 2024 Olympic Games. Increasingly, it looks likely that the contest will come down to a fight between Jonas Schomburg and Lasse Nygaard Priester. Of course, someone like Henseleit, the World U23 champion, could snatch it away. Right now, though, Schomburg and Priester look the safe bets.
Both will be racing in Miyazaki, adding another dimension to the event.
As things stand, Schomburg stands in 14th place in the Olympic Qualification rankings. Meanwhile, Priester has moved up to 34th. One of them will need to stay in the top-30 to earn a third slot for Germany and, when it comes to selection, every race and head-to-head could provide a little boost in the eyes of the selectors.
Both have also medalled recently. Schomburg won his first World Cup medal in Karlovy Vary. Prior to that, Priester earned medals in Weihai and Valencia.
In Miyazaki, then, look for the race within the race between the German men.
The last legs
There will be some tired legs in Miyazaki.
The first World Cup of the season came seven months before while world-level racing started in earnest with WTCS Abu Dhabi almost a month before that.
For many, Miyazaki will mark a merciful end to a long and gruelling year. After so much travel and so many races, some athletes will be running on fumes and will be longing for a break. The race could therefore throw up some unexpected results.
The athletes will undoubtedly be as professional as ever, but when the go to the well so late in the year, some may find that it has run dry.
You can view the full start lists here.
