Image 1 of 23 Peter Sagan wins the 2016 Saitama Criterium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 2 of 23 Fumiyuki Beppu wins the prize for most aggressive rider (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 3 of 23 Romain Bardet topped the mountains classification (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 4 of 23 Marcel Kittel topped the points classification (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 5 of 23 Peter Sagan tops the Saitama Criterium podium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 6 of 23 Peter Sagan collects his prizes (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 7 of 23 Peter Sagan on the podium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 8 of 23 Yukiya Arashiro won the points race (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 9 of 23 Petr Vakoc won the time trial (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 10 of 23 Romain Bardet on the move (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 11 of 23 Adam Yates on the podium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 12 of 23 Bridgestone-Anchor were the best Japanese team (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 13 of 23 Tinkoff were the best team (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 14 of 23 Peter Sagan pulls a wheelie for the fans (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 15 of 23 Peter Sagan pulls a wheelie for the fans (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 16 of 23 Sagan raises his arm in celebration (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 17 of 23 The sprint for the line at the Saitama Criterium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 18 of 23 Top riders on the podium at the Saitama Criterium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 19 of 23 Marcel Kittel on the attack (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 20 of 23 Peter Sagan celebrates with a wheelie (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 21 of 23 Peter Sagan wins the 2016 Saitama Criterium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 22 of 23 Peter Sagan raises his arm in celebration (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 23 of 23 Peter Sagan sprints for the line (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

Peter Sagan emerged as the winner of the fourth edition of the Saitama Criterium, outsprinting Japanese champion Sho Hatsuyama at the end of a fast race.

With the event run by Tour de France organisers ASO, Sagan was wearing the green jersey he won in July - rather than the world champion's rainbow jersey he retained a fortnight ago. Tour de France champion Chris Froome, wearing his yellow jersey, took third place after being part of the late four-man break, along with white jersey Adam Yates.

"It was a very fast start," said Sagan. "A breakaway got caught, another one started. Eventually the race became a bit more quiet so I waited for three or four laps to go to make my move because I knew I'd suffer too much if I bridged the gap on all the attackers. We rode strongly at the end. I was the fastest of the four so it went well for me."

Japanese cyclists had their moments of glory with junior rider Kento Omachi setting the best time in the opening time trial ahead of the first professional Petr Vakov (Etixx-Quick Step). Yukiya Arashiro (Lampre-Merida), racing with Fumiyuki Beppu (Trek-Segafredo) as the Tour de France-Japan team, then won the points race.

The criterium itself - the main event - started on a fast note with six riders breaking away: Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale), Marcel Kittel (Etixx-Quick Step), Michal Golas (Team Sky), Taisei Kobayahsi (Japan), Kazushige Kuboki (Nippo-Vini Fantini) and Hideto Nakane (Aisan). Bardet went solo with 23km to go and was replaced at the front by his team-mate Alexis Vuillermoz, who saw an opportunity to get cheered as he took off with the two local stars Beppu and Arashiro - the first Japanese cyclists to complete the Tour de France in 2009.

"With these two guys, it felt like being at the front on the Champs-Elysées - they're so popular!", Vuillermoz told Cyclingnews.

The trio led the race from 15km to 5km to go. As they got reined in, Froome, Sagan, Hatsuyama and Yates made the winning move. An average speed of 41.7km/h was recorded in the 57km long race, which is quite high for professional cyclists during their off-season.

"I didn't expect the race to be that fast - it was certainly a long lasting effort," added Vuillermoz. "The finale was a bit similar to stage 11 to Montpellier with Sagan. I didn't want the race to end with a sprint so I attacked with two laps to go but he came across to me straight away. The crowd was absolutely amazing, as always in Japan. They're so knowledgeable about the sport. They follow everything so closely. It's special to finish the season here."

The Saitama Criterium is set to welcome Tour de France champions for the next three years at least.

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