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Updated 27/10/2023 at 21:49 GMT
Eiya Hashimoto arrived at the Track Champions League with a bang. The 29-year-old from Japan claimed victory in the opening scratch race after joining forces with six other endurance riders, lapping the field, and being the first of them to cross the finish line. He still prefers the elimination though, because he says “you need legs and you need smarts.”
Hashimoto wins chaotic first final of Track Champions League 2023
If Eiya Hashimoto looked like he was enjoying his Track Champions League debut last Saturday, that’s because he was.
The rider from Japan couldn’t keep the smile from his face the entire evening, even after the crash that occurred at the start of the men’s elimination, and which saw more than half the field taken out.
“It’s very different to racing for the Olympics, which every time is focussed on the results and sometimes it’s not much fun,” he said. “Here, it’s always fun.”
Hashimoto wins chaotic first final of Track Champions League 2023
Hashimoto was among a group of seven riders who took a lap on the field, and which caught the bunch with just a few rotations remaining. Having done so he only needed to be first across the line of those seven to win the race.
The modest-mannered man puts the win down to “good luck, because many strong riders watched each other, stayed back, and I could easily break away.”
Of the two events the endurance riders compete in each week, Hashimoto said: “Both are my favourite but the elimination is my most favourite. You need legs and you need smarts.”
He didn’t fare quite so well in the second race of the evening, but got knocked out in a perfectly respectable fifth place, easily scoring enough points to secure the first men’s endurance league leader’s jersey of this year’s competition.
“I’m looking forward to wearing it in Berlin,” he said, ahead of the second round on Saturday.
Although he considers the Track Champions League leader’s jersey the crowning sporting glory of his career so far, the proudest achievement of his career comes not in the shape of medals or victories, but in being an inspiration to people watching to take up cycling.
‘I always get nervous!’ – Archibald on the scratch race
Hashimoto named London as the Track Champions League round he’s most looking forward to but said: “One day I’d like to race the TCL in Japan. That’s my dream.”
Paris 2024 is another dream, of course, and Hashimoto says he is “very happy to be racing in Saint-Quentin before the Olympics.”
He’s pleased with how his preparation for that is going. He said his Japanese team-mates are “very excited to be racing the team pursuit.” Japan is currently ranked eighth in the world in that competition, with 10 teams qualifying to compete in Paris.
Watch every minute of the UCI Track Champions League on Eurosport and discovery+
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