2020 Games road races to end near Mount Fuji

The organizing committee for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo is planning on changing the routes for the cycling road races so they pass by the Yamanakako lake in Yamanashi Prefecture and end near Mount Fuji, sources said.

The current candidate route runs through central Tokyo. The change is intended to take advantage of the area’s beautiful scenery and avoid causing traffic jams in the heart of the capital. The committee is co-ordinating with the municipalities involved, aiming for the plan to be officially approved at an International Olympic Committee board meeting next year, the sources said.

The Fuji course would start at the Musashino Forest Sports Center in Chofu, western Tokyo, then pass by the lake and through the foothills of Mount Fuji before ending at Fuji Speedway in Oyama, Shizuoka Prefecture. In addition to Tokyo, the route would pass through Kanagawa, Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures, and would likely be about 266 kilometres for the men’s race and about 143 kilometres for the women’s.

The men’s and women’s races would be on the same route. However, the distance would be adjusted by adding extra laps around the lake and the Fuji Speedway area for the men.

The Tokyo committee plans to determine the exact route based on the desires of the municipalities involved and local police departments, which would be responsible for controlling traffic.

A major attraction of the route is having the athletes cycle against the scenery of Mount Fuji. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the global governing body for cycling, has reportedly given informal approval to the relocation plan.