A sprint finish it had to be and a sprint finish it was at the end of the seventh and final stage of the Tour of Japan 2026. The winner on the finish line of a 107-kilometer leg that started and ended in the capital Tokyo was German Lucas Carstensen (Kinan Racing Team) who, following his success in the fifth stage of the Tour of Taiwan, has recorded his second victory of the season, beating Tilen Finkšt (Solution Tech NIPPO Rali) in third place, and one of the morning's great favorites Alexander Salby (Li Ning Star), who had to settle for second place after finding the gap to launch his sprint too late.

Behind them, the only Italian to finish in the top ten of the day was Francesco Carollo (Swatt Club) who, after the stage, still made it to the podium as winner of the red jersey for best climber, a symbol conquered thanks to the points accumulated in yesterday's stage that allowed him to edge out Genki Yamamoto (Kinan Racing Team) and his teammate Giacomo Garavaglia, who today was the last attacker to be caught before the final sprint.

Speaking of Italians, the awards for the general classification and points classification were also in Italian colors. The former, thanks to the solo victory achieved on Mount Fuji in the queen stage, was won by Matteo Fabbro (Solution Tech NIPPO Rali) who, with a 55-second advantage over his teammate Kamiel Bonneu and 58 seconds over Spanish rider Benjamin Prades of VC Fukuoka, thus celebrated his third victory of the season (the first of his career in a stage race) bringing an important haul of points to his team with an eye on the UCI team standings.

The latter, meanwhile, saw the clear triumph of a superb Tommaso Dati (Team UKYO) who, winning two stages plus the opening prologue, was the authentic star of a week of racing that has put him, even more than before, on the radar of the world's major teams and which, above all, allowed him to round out to five the tally of personal victories obtained this season.

STAGE RESULTS

1. Lucas Carstensen (Kinan Racing Team) – 2:11:49

2. Alexander Salby (Li Ning Star) s.t.

3. Tilen Finkšt (Solution Tech NIPPO Rali) s.t.

4. Tetsuo Yamamoto (Team Ukyo) s.t.

5. Daiki Magosaki (Victoire Hiroshima) +0:01

6. Graham Frislie (CCACHE x Bodywrap) +0:01

7. Francesco Carollo (Swatt Club) +0:01

8. Liam Walsh (CCACHE x Bodywrap) +0:01

9. Atsushi Oka (Astemo Utsunomiya Blitzen) +0:01

10. Hayato Okamoto (Aisan Racing Team) +0:01

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Matteo Fabbro (Solution Tech Nippo Rali) 11:04:28

2. Kamiel Bonneu (Solution Tech Nippo Rali) +0:55

3. Benjamin Prades (VC Fukuoka) +0:58

4. Eduardo Sepulveda (Li Ning Star) +1:13

5. Fergus Browning (Terengganu Cycling Team) +1:25

6. Nicolò Garibbo (Team UKYO) +1:35

7. Adne Willemjan Van Engelen (Terengganu Cycling Team) +2:02

8. Matthew Greenwood (CCACHE x Bodywrap) +2:06

9. Luke Burns (Victoire Hiroshima) +3:00

10. Yuhi Todome (Aisan Racing Team) +3:02

OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS

Points Classification: Tommaso Dati (Team UKYO)

King of the Mountains Classification: Francesco Carollo (Swatt Club)

Best Young Rider Classification: Will Heath (CCACHE x BODYWRAP)

Team Classification: Terengganu Cycling Team