![]() ![]() Then he went back to his base in Marseille, where the VC La Pomme management, having heard his threats of giving up, were worried they’d never see him again.īeppu’s route into cycling was an unusual one. “I won,” he adds with satisfaction, “by four minutes and 50 seconds.” With 45 kilometres to go I dropped him, and rode the race like a time trial,” he says. “I was smart – I waited while the attacks went. The local riders, including future professional Yukihiro Doi, watched him, and followed. He travelled to Hiroshima, to the rolling 15-kilometre circuit where the nationals would take place. If I didn’t win, I was going to stop cycling, go back to live in Japan and get a job in a restaurant.” I wanted to go back, and win by five minutes, to show how much better I was than the riders in Japan. “I rode for the first time a week after my crash, with bandages over my face. Finish,” he says, and I think he means it. “I said to myself that if I didn’t win the nationals, I’d stop cycling. In order to do that, he had to prove he was the best rider in Japan – why try to be the best rider in Europe, if you can’t even be the best rider in your own country? Instead of postponing the decision until he’d recovered from his injuries, it made him even more certain that he had to win. After two seasons in France, he was determined to turn professional, and prove to himself that he was good enough to do it. Three weeks later, he was down for the Japanese U-23 national championships, and he had been telling everybody, and himself, that the race was going to be the crux of his career. Beppu was determined to show gaman after his crash. It involves dealing with adversity, not giving up, and most of all, not letting down one’s peer group. Gaman is one of the most important parts of the self-perception of Japan – it translates literally as “endurance,” although it’s broader than that. “It hurt, but I had no broken bones and I could ride my bike,” he says, laconically. Soon afterwards, he crashed heavily, necessitating 30 stitches in his face, and smashing his nose open. As an Under-23, riding for the high-profile French team VC La Pomme, he finished 13th in the U23 Paris-Roubaix. He makes up for being nice to the world by being hard on himself. He roomed with old Classics hacker Roger Hammond in his first training camp with Discovery, who reported back that Beppu was literally bouncing off the walls with happiness at having turned professional, and making up for his almost complete inability to use the English language by constantly repeating five of the words he did know: “Roger, I am so happy.”īut Beppu is no pushover. He’s universally known as as ‘Fumy’, and allows himself to be photographed cuddling small dogs, while Twittering enthusiastically in three languages. It’s a niche sport, but three professionals is still two more than when Beppu signed with Discovery Channel in 2005.īeppu is renowned as being one of the nicest people in the peloton, almost too nice. ![]() Hardly surprising, given the population density of all but the mountainous spine of the country – racing on open roads is impractical, and most road races take place on purpose-built road circuits (of extremely high quality and variety, incorporating hairpin climbs and descents, rolling terrain and smooth road surfaces). But road racing is way behind the biggest sports – yakyu (baseball), soccer and sumo - in terms of popularity. The keirin scene is huge – trillions of yen are bet every year on track racing. That’s rare enough to be striking.Ĭycling isn’t a big sport in Japan, although bikes are one of the primary methods of getting around town – men, women and children alike ride heavy shopping bikes known as mamacharis, and pavements are generally shared between pedestrians and bikes, with no friction whatsoever. If the pace is too fast for you try to find other Zwifters to ride with.Beppu’s one of three Japanese riders who are currently riding at WorldTour or Pro Continental level, along with Europcar’s Yukiya Arashiro and Skil-Shimano’s Yukihiro Doi. If other riders want to ride faster, let them go off the front. Fumy is the ride leader and he will have a yellow beacon above him signifying he is the leader. He's a multi-time Japanese Road & Time Trial Champion and a veteran of all three stage race monuments: Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España. Registration is FREE.įumy Beppu turned pro in 2005. Every mile counts toward our community goal to ride 250,000 miles in 24 hours.Ĭlick the link below to learn how you can fundraise and win some amazing prizes. ![]() Join Trek-Segafredo pro racer Fumy Beppu as he leads riders from around the world on a 50 minute easy-moderate pace group ride to help raise $200,000 in the 2nd Annual Ride On Zwiftathon for World Bicycle Relief.
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