Japan’s Fumiyuki Beppu won the Tour de France’s combative jersey on Sunday’s 21st and final stage on Paris’ Champs Elysees and said he hopes he can inspire other cyclists from the land of the rising sun.

Both the 26-year-old Skil-Shimano rider and Bbox Bouygues Telecom’s Yukiya Arashiro became the first Japanese riders ever to finish all 21 stages of the world’s toughest bike race.

“It’s been a huge experience for me, but these three weeks are done and I am very happy,” Beppu told Bicycle.net after winning the jersey for the best individual performance on the stage which was won by sprinter Mark Cavendish.

“When I first turned pro with Discovery Channel in 2005, all I heard about was stories from the Tour de France – so to finally have completed one is a big deal.

“My objective was always to reach the finish and I am proud that I did something here in Paris as well as stage 19 when I finished seventh.”

“The spectators have been the best thing about the Tour: so many spectators call out my name and not just Japanese fans.

“The Stage 17th (in the Alps) was the hardest for me, but as soon as it was over I thought, “well, that was ok, that wasn’t so bad”.

“Now I hope I can inspire a few Japanese competition riders to come to the Tour and to raise awareness for cyclists in Japan: there are so many cars and there is sometimes no respect for cyclists.

“My dream is to make it safer for cyclists in Japan and to inspire others, because we don’t have many pro riders at home.

“It was my dream, I made it come true and perhaps others could.”

Neither Beppu or Arashiro troubled yellow jersey winner Alberto Contador with Beppu finishing 112th overall, with his compatriot 129th.

But they improved on the progress of Kisso Kawamuro, the first rider from Japan to try his luck back in 1926 and 1927, but failing both times in his quest to reach Paris.

Daisuke Imanaka was the last Japanese rider to take part in the Tour when he was a member of the Polti team in 1996, but also never saw the French capital and its finish line.

Beppu Celebrating His Arrival In Paris

Photo by: CorVos Pro