A rainbow in Saitama

It promises to be a colourful event: in addition to the Yellow Jersey won by Chris Froomein July and the Green Jersey obtained by Peter Sagan, the spectators of the Saitama Criterium by the Tour de France will see the rainbow jersey in action on the shoulders of Rui Costa. The organisers of this first event in Japan have invited an eighth team from the world elite, in order to welcome the winner of the World Championships in Florence. The Portuguese rider, a two times stage winner on Le Tour last July, at Gap and Le Grand-Bornand, will be accompanied in Saitama by three of his Movistar team-mates, including Alejandro Valverde, bronze medallist at the World Championships. Several days after having won the title of world champion, Rui Costa announced his intention to do his utmost to become one of the major players on the Tour de France 2014. His new challenge starts in Saitama.

The teams and riders on the Saitama Criterium by the Tour de France:
Sky Procycling: Chris Froome, Richie Porte, Geraint Thomas, Peter Kennaugh. Cannondale Pro Cycling: Peter Sagan, Ivan Basso, Nariyuki Masuda, Juraj Sagan. Team Argos-Shimano: Simon Geschke, Marcel Kittel, Albert Timmer, Tom Veelers. Orica GreenEdge: Simon Gerrans, Fumi Beppu, Christian Meier, Simon Clarke. AG2R La Mondiale: John Gadret, Christophe Riblon, Romain Bardet, Blel Kadri. FDJ.fr: Arthur Vichot, Jérémy Roy, Jussi Veikkanen, Alexandre Geniez. TeamEuropcar: Yukiya Arashiro, Vincent Jérôme, Yohann Gene, Jérôme Cousin. Movistar Team: Rui Costa (Por), Alejandro Valverde (Spa), Andrey Amador (Crc), Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa). Japanese team: Miyataka Shimizu, Sho Hatsuyama, Yasuharu Nakajima, Taiji Nishitan, Kazuhiro Mori, Yusuke Hatanaka, Hayato Yoshida, Yukihiro Doi, Yoshiaki Shimada, Ryota Nishizono, Shinichi Fukushima, Kohei Uchima, Kazushige Kuboki, Souta IKebe, Hikaru Kosaka, Yoshimitsu Tsuji, Eiya Hashimoto, Naoki Tsujimoto, Masato Kanai, Kota Hirahara, Shinichi Ota, YoshiHiro Inoue, Yusuke Sasaki, Masanari Komuro