{"id":253560,"date":"2025-11-09T19:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T19:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/253560\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T19:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T19:01:10","slug":"if-i-suffered-like-that-i-would-stop-japanese-icon-reflects-on-a-longstanding-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/253560\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIf I suffered like that, I would stop\u201d \u2013 Japanese icon reflects on a longstanding career"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nAfter 10 years riding for WorldTour teams (Team Europcar, Lampre Merida and Bahrain – Victorious<\/a>), Arashiro\u2019s change of environment has brought a new perspective. \u201cWe\u2019re not a big team, but this year we had more than 20 victories. The team made an important step forward,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

His season took him from China, Taiwan, and Japan to several races in Europe, and the shift has allowed him to rediscover cycling\u2019s essence. \u201cBefore, I always looked for a mission for the next year. Now I just enjoy the season,\u201d he reflected.<\/p>\n

This year, Arashiro raced five events in Japan, including Kumano, Kyushu, and the Japan Cup. Yet he remains realistic about the sport\u2019s development in his home country, which is far from the top level. \u201cThe level in Japan is still not the same as in Europe. It\u2019s growing, yes, but there\u2019s still a lack of depth,\u201d he admitted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking back on friendships and rivals<\/p>\n

Arashiro’s best result came in China, where he finished in second place at the Tour of Binzhou, only losing to Simon Pellaud. During the Asian calendar, he also crossed paths with fellow veteran Francisco Mancebo (49 years old and still active), whose persistence caught his attention. \u201cIf I suffered like that, I would stop. But he continues. Every rider has different motivations. If he enjoys it, why not?\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking toward Spain, Arashiro shared memories of his former Bahrain teammates Mikel Landa<\/a> and Pello Bilbao<\/a>. Of Landa, he said: \u201cAfter such an injury, the body takes time to come back. I hope he has rested. If he did, next year he can return strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of Bilbao, he added with emotion: \u201cThis year he didn\u2019t have luck due to mechanical issues and bad moments. It\u2019s not about strength. I think next year he\u2019ll have an explosion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, Arashiro reflected on cycling\u2019s unpredictability. \u201cCycling is open to everyone. One mistake, one crash, or one bad day for a favorite changes everything. Nothing is written.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After 10 years riding for WorldTour teams (Team Europcar, Lampre Merida and Bahrain – Victorious), Arashiro\u2019s change…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-253560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}