In our continuing series on life behind the scenes at the big races, we talk to EF Education-EasyPost soigneur Takuya Sakamoto
Words James Witts Photography Harry Talbot
Team players
‘When I tell people at home I’m involved in cycling, they say, “Ah, keirin?” I’m like, “No, road cycling.” And they look perplexed.’
Takuya Sakamoto has been a soigneur – the great multi-taskers of any cycling team – for American WorldTour team EF Education-EasyPost since 2021 and has worked in cycling since 2015, a career path that he admits is unusual for a young man from Japan.
‘I never thought I’d leave Japan and work in Europe,’ he says. ‘Certainly not in cycling.’
In Japan, track-based keirin racing is big business thanks to the fact that it’s one of only four sports in Japan that the public can legally gamble on, but road racing has struggled to gain traction. ‘It might seem odd that road cycling’s not more popular when a bike company the size of Shimano is from Japan, but there’s a good reason for that. We have problems with the police.’
It seems that the Japanese public has a low tolerance for cyclists and, in a sentiment that will resonate with British cyclists, a Covid-fuelled rise in bicycle use hasn’t gone down well at all. A Japan Bicycle Promotion Institute survey suggests 71.8% of pedestrians and 88.1% of motorists have ‘felt annoyed or in danger due to cyclists’. Bike-related incidents are on the rise in Tokyo, and revised traffic laws mean cyclists found guilty of tailgating face fines of up to ¥50,000 (£265) or even three months’ incarceration.
Big in Japan
‘I was at university when I came across cycling and joined the club where we competed in both track and road. Before I signed up, the only thing I knew about the sport was the Tour de France.’
He didn’t make the big time as a rider, but his introduction to the WorldTour arrived thanks to one of Japan’s largest construction companies.
‘Nippo had been involved in cycling for many years,’ he says. ‘When I was at university, Nippo started to look for staff for a new venture.’
That ‘venture’ was the Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizanè Pro team, which lasted from 2015 to 2019 and billed itself as the world’s first Japanese-Italian professi
