Vingegaard, Froome, Nibali, Valverde embrace the chaotic world of Japanese game show TV – Gallery
All theꦆ fun and games of the Saitama Criterium media day
After the Singapore Criterium last weekend, a host of 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Tour de France stars descended on Japan for the Saitama Criterium, with r🐈iders once again dipping their toes into the local culture.
Unlike the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:all-new Singapore leg, 𒀰the Saitama Criterium – an exhibition event put on by Tour de France organisers ASO – has been running for several years, with the day🤡 before the 'race' given over to cultural interaction.
The riders have become sumo wrestlers, karate kids, and archers over t𝓀he years, and the 2022 edition saw them dive into the chaotic world of Japanese game show television.
2022 Tour de France champion 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Jonas Vingegaard was joined by four-time winner 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Chris Froome in 'Team Maillot Jaune', while 2014 winner 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Vincenzo Nibali and 2015 podium finisher 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Alejandro Valverde, both r๊ecently re🌼tired, banded together as 'Team Legend'. All were dressed in kimonos and face masks.
Amid deafening dinging buzzers and customised hats with targets that sprang up and down, the teams were put through three rounds of competition. Vingegaard dominated the qui🗹z round, cor🍨rectly identifying various spinning Tour de France imagery to give his team a 4-0 lead.
However, the old-timers fought back in the candy floss-making round, Nibali's well-structured effort earning him hearty applause from the crowd. It went down to a self-portrait contest, and once again Nibali stole the show with a genuinely impressive effort, while the others were met with ridic🦩ule.
Somehow - and you could see the scepticism in Vingegaard's eyes - the scores totted up to 13-4 in favour of the 'Legends'. "Experience prevailed in the end," Nibali quipꦇped, to the crowd's delight.
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You can flick through all the photos of the day's activities – which also included a trip to the local markets with 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Marcel Kittel and rides with children with 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Mark Cavendish – in the gallery above.
Patrick✨ is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.