Quinn Simmons won the Utsunomiya Japan Cup Road Race, a 1.Pro-class one-day race held on 18 October in Japan. The Lidl-Trek American beat Ben Healy, the EF Education-Easypost Irishman, who finished on the same time: 3h33’02”. As in 2024, with Neilson Powless, an American wins; in 2025 it was the turn of France’s Lenny Sydney Martinez.
The race was decided between two. Simmons and Healy finished ahead of everyone and the chasing group conceded 1’12”: Jenno Berckmoes, Jordan Jegat, Nicolò Garibbo and Julien Bernard took third to sixth place on the same time. There were 109 starters and 48 finishers: a harsh selection, with just two riders out in front.
For Simmons, 25, it is a tenth career win and the third of 2026, after a stage of the Tour Auvergne – Rhône-Alpes and the US national road championship. Before this he had won three times at World Tour level, the last in June 2025 at the Tour de Suisse.
Among the Italians the best is Garibbo, of Team Ukyo, fifth in the chasing group. His team-mate Federico Iacomoni is eighth at 1’57”, in the small group with Baptiste Vadic and Alexandre Delettre. Antonio Tiberi, of Bahrain Victorious, finished twentieth, a little over three minutes down. Matteo Regnanti, Matteo Sobrero and Alessandro Borgo came in between 24th and 36th, more than seven minutes down. Tommaso Dati, Simone Gualdi, Alessandro Iacchi, Domenico Pozzovivo and Filippo Ridolfo abandoned.
Berckmoes, of Lotto Intermarché, completes the podium. The top ten includes three Totalenergies riders (Jegat, Vadic and Delettre), two from Lidl-Trek with Simmons and Bernard, and two from Team Ukyo with Garibbo and Iacomoni.
How they finished
The top ten
| # | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quinn Simmons | Lidl-Trek | 3h33’02” |
| 2 | Ben Healy | EF Education-Easypost | s.t. |
| 3 | Jenno Berckmoes | Lotto Intermarché | +1’12” |
| 4 | Jordan Jegat | Totalenergies | +1’12” |
| 5 | Nicolò Garibbo | Team Ukyo | +1’12” |
| 6 | Julien Bernard | Lidl-Trek | +1’12” |
| 7 | Sam Maisonobe | Cofidis | +1’15” |
| 8 | Federico Iacomoni | Team Ukyo | +1’57” |
| 9 | Baptiste Vadic | Totalenergies | +1’57” |
| 10 | Alexandre Delettre | Totalenergies | +1’57” |
The numbers of the race
- Selection index
- 96 out of 100 Of 48 finishers: 2 within 30 seconds of the winner, 11 within 2 minutes, 46 within 10 minutes (him included). It runs from 0, a bunch sprint, to 98, a solo finish.
Story written with the help of Mnemosyne.
Sources
- Results and times: UCI, official results.
- Photo: Kakoula10, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
