Image 1 of 56 Warren Barguil, Greg van Avermaet, Chris Froome and Marcel Kittel (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 2 of 56 Chris Froome gets into the spirit of things at the Saitama Criterium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 3 of 56 Mark Cavendish rides on stage (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 4 of 56 Greg van Avermaet talks on stage at the team presentation (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 5 of 56 The Marcel Kittel fans were out on force (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 6 of 56 Julien Vermote (Quick-Step Floors) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 7 of 56 Marcel Kittel in his last race with Quick-Step Floors (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 8 of 56 Rigoberto Uran waves to the crowd (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 9 of 56 Simon Clarke presents his Cannondale-Drapac teammates (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 10 of 56 Yukiya Arashiro (Bahrain-Merida) and Fumiyuki Beppu (Trek-Segafredo) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 11 of 56 Nathan Haas and Mark Cavendish cook the eel (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 12 of 56 Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome and Rigoberto Uran (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 13 of 56 Chris Froome throws a ninja star (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 14 of 56 Greg van Avermaet takes aim (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 15 of 56 Mark Cavendish and his Dimension Data teammates (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 16 of 56 Chris Froome (Team Sky) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 17 of 56 Chris Froome and his teammates eat some of the eel (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 18 of 56 Yukiya Arashiro throws a ninja star (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 19 of 56 Simon Clarke tries his hand at ninja stars (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 20 of 56 Nathan Haas seems confident of his ninja star skills (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 21 of 56 Chris Froome (Team Sky) in his yellow ninja attire (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 22 of 56 Greg van Avermaet and Chris Froome cross swords (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 23 of 56 Warren Barguil was the polka-dot Samurai (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 24 of 56 Mark Cavendish grabs the live eel (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 25 of 56 Mark Cavendish signs autographs with the huge crowd (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 26 of 56 A serious looking Greg van Avermaet Samurai (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 27 of 56 Team Sky at the team presentation (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 28 of 56 Chris Froome and Greg van Avermaet have some end of season fun (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 29 of 56 Chris Froome hits the target with a ninja star (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 30 of 56 Greg van Avermaet the black Samurai (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 31 of 56 Greg van Avermaet with his BMC team on stage (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 32 of 56 The Dimension Data riders on stage (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 33 of 56 There was a big crowd at the team presentation (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 34 of 56 Team Sky at the Saitama criterium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 35 of 56 Chris Froome is the yellow Saitama Samurai (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 36 of 56 The four Saitama Samurai (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 37 of 56 Marcel Kittle the Samurai (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 38 of 56 Marcel Kittel slays his rival Samurai (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 39 of 56 Warren Barguil shows his Samurai skills (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 40 of 56 Marcel Kittel is introduced to the crowd (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 41 of 56 Rigoberto Uran gives a wave (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 42 of 56 The Cannondale-Drapac team enjoys a laugh (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 43 of 56 Michal Kwiatkowski signs autographs for fans (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 44 of 56 Chris Froome was a popular man as the riders arrived at their hotel (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 45 of 56 Marcel Kittel poses for a photo with a fan (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 46 of 56 There were plenty of autographs for Chris Froome to sign (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 47 of 56 The fans wait for the riders to arrive (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 48 of 56 Simon Geschke is a regular at the Saitama Criterium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 49 of 56 Warren Barguil signs autographs (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 50 of 56 Marcel Kittel gets dressed up (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 51 of 56 Marcel Kittel and Warren Barguil (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 52 of 56 Mark Cavendish arrived in Japan on Thursday (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 53 of 56 Warren Barguil with Amael Moinard (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 54 of 56 Marcel Kittel puts his game face on (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 55 of 56 Marcel Kittel`dresses up (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 56 of 56 Greg Van Avermaet rides onto the stage (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

After Tai Chi and dragon dancing in China at the Shanghai Criterium, the end of season fun continued in Japan on Friday as the riders caught and cooked Unagi eels, wielded samurai swords and chucked ninja stars – all in the name of cultural immersion ahead of the Saitama Criterium.

Both the Shanghai and Saitama criteriums are put on by Tour de France organiser ASO to export a flavour of the Tour to the Asian market. While last week was the inaugural edition of the Shanghai Criterium, Saitama is in its fifth edition and has had riders sumo wrestling, firing arrows and beating drums in the past.

On Friday, a fight between samurai and ninja warriors was the main event, played out on stage in front of a big and enthusiastic crowd of locals. Marcel Kittel and Warren Barguil donned the elaborate outfits and long swords of the samurai, while Chris Froome and Greg Van Avermaet were dressed in the rather more underwhelming ninja get-ups – more ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ than ‘Ninja Assassin’. There were demonstrations from experts before the pros were called onto the stage.

Kittel and Barguil dodged attacks and then ‘defeated’ the ninjas before Froome and Van Avermaet launched Shuriken – the small sharp weapon known as ninja stars – at a target. Froome put it slap bang in the middle of the bullseye with his first attempt. Van Avermaet needed several re-throws.

Before that, Mark Cavendish and Fabio Sabatini had fished live Unagi eels out of a tank with their bare hands. “Slippery,” was how the British sprinter described the experience, to the delight of the amused crowd.

A Japanese chef then demonstrated how to kill and prepare the eel, cutting its throat and pinning its head to the chopping board before proceeding to remove its guts while it was still moving. Cavendish and Uran later helped cook it before it was served up to all the riders.

If today’s appetizer was anything to go by, the weekend's main event will be just as well supported as in recent years, with fans literally falling over each other as riders stepped out of the elevator at their hotel on their way to the event. Some fans went as far as to travel to Tokyo Nakita airport to greet Didi the Devil as he arrived from Shanghai with the press corps on Wednesday evening.

Racing will take place on Saturday with a three-pronged schedule, featuring a special sprint race involving a derny and a one-kilometre free-for-all, a 2.5km team time trial, and the main criterium.

Cyclingnews will have full coverage, photos and special interviews from Saitama in the next few days.