Of the three Japanese riders contesting the keirin at the Track World Championships, few would have picked Kento Yamasaki as the one most likely to bring the rainbow jersey back to the event’s home country.

Perhaps that was unfair. The 31 year old has had a remarkable year in UCI competition, winning the Asian continental keirin title in New Delhi back in February; and just a few weeks before Ballerup, the Japanese national title too.

Yamasaki has participated in Japanese pro keirin since 2017, and has been a Special-class racer since 2018. But so far in his career, he has not yet qualified for the Keirin Grand Prix, held in late December each year, with a prize of around US$ 1 million for the winner.

But could that change, in the wake of his success this week? TrackPiste notes that the nine spots in the big race are generally allocated to the winners of the year’s six major G1 events, plus the highest money-earners on the circuit.

There is provision to invite a Japanese winner of the Olympic keirin. But it isn’t clear whether the same honour would be offered to a UCI world champion, particularly in an Olympic year.

The decision would likely be made in November, following the Asahi Shimbun Cup.

So, in a fascinating scenario which could again put the focus on UCI versus non-UCI competition, we could see the current UCI world champion lining up in Japanese keirin’s biggest race – precisely because he is the UCI champion.

Yamasaki is currently listed to compete in several Japanese pro meets during October and November, including the big Kokura keirin festival on November 19-24. But his success in Denmark will surely see him invited to participate in the UCI Track Champions League, which begins at the Paris velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines on November 23.

Japan has only previously had one UCI keirin champion, Harumi Honda in 1987. He competed in that year’s Keirin Grand Prix, finishing 6th – but he was an established keirin pro who also qualified normally in 1986, 1988 and 1998.