 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2012) |
| Cycling in India | |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Governing body | Cycling Federation of India |
| National team(s) | India |
The history of cycling in India dates back to 1938. The Cycling Federation of India takes care of the sport. Cycling is unknown as a professional sport in India but popular as a common recreational sport and it is a good way to keep fit.
Mountain biking is becoming a popular sport. For the last 15 years, MTB Himachal now MTb Himalaya has been organized regularly by HASTPA, an NGO. It is attended by a number of national and international participants, including some world champions like Cory Wallace, Andy Seewald, Lui Lio pinto and Indian Army, Indian Air Force, ITBP and a number of young and energetic MTB individual riders from cities like Pune, Bangalore, Delhi and Chandigarh. Last year, the government of Sikkim (Department of Tourism) introduced its own MTB race with South East Asia's biggest prize money. The second edition saw 48 professional participants. Mtb Himalaya is now into its 15th edition and is a globally sought after race for its quality of route, challenges and competition and is now among the top toughest races globally . MTB races are also conducted by #KalyanCyclist at Rayate about 10 km from Kalyan. They have been doing this event since 2018.
The Tour of Nilgiris is a major non-competitive & non-commercial touring event in South Asia that covers 1,000 kilometres in under 10 days. [1] The Tour of Nilgiris (TfN), India's first Day Touring Cycle Ride, was born in 2008 with the twin objectives of promoting bicycling as an activity and spreading awareness about the bio-diversity, flora and fauna of the Nilgiris.
India has put forth its foot in randonneuring events. These are conducted under the aegis of Audax Club Parisien and are now done across India with 15 clubs doing brevets every month. Brevets begun in India in 2010. 200, 300, 400, 600, 1000 & 1200 kilometers events are conducted regularly as per the global calendar.
The Rotary Club of Madras Midtown conducted a cycle rally called K2K Tour de Rotary, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, for the cause of Swatch Bharat. [2]
In similar manner, Indian Cycling League conducts GPS based Cycling races to keep motivating cyclists of India.
| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asian Games | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Total | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common competition formats are mass start events, where riders start simultaneously and race to a set finish point; and time trials, where individual riders or teams race a course alone against the clock. Stage races or "tours" take multiple days, and consist of several mass-start or time-trial stages ridden consecutively.
A cyclosportive, or often simply sportive, is a short to long distance, organised, mass-participation cycling event, typically held annually. The Italian term Gran Fondo is commonly used for these events in the United States, Australia and some other English-speaking countries.
Cycling Time Trials is the bicycle racing organisation which supervises individual and team time trials in England and Wales. It was formed out of predecessor body the Road Time Trials Council (RTTC) in 2002.
The Madras Boat Club is one of the oldest rowing centres in India, located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The area adjoining it is the most expensive locality in South India.
Mountain bike racing is the competitive cycle sport discipline of mountain biking held on off-road terrain. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recognised the discipline relatively late in 1990, when it sanctioned the world championships in Durango, Colorado. The first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series took place in 1988. Its nine-race circuit covered two continents—Europe and North America—and was sponsored by Grundig. Cross-country racing was the only World Cup sport at this time. In 1993, a six-event downhill World Cup was introduced. In 1996, cross-country mountain biking events were added to the Olympic Games. In 2006, cross-country mountain biking events became part of the World Deaf Cycling Championships for the first time in San Francisco, USA.
Randonneuring is a long-distance cycling sport with its origins in audax cycling. In randonneuring, riders attempt courses of 200 km or more, passing through predetermined "controls" (checkpoints) every few tens of kilometres. Riders aim to complete the course within specified time limits, and receive equal recognition regardless of their finishing order. Riders may travel in groups or alone as they wish, and are expected to be self-sufficient between controls. A randonneuring event is called a randonnée or brevet, and a rider who has completed a 200 km event is called a randonneur. The international governing body for randonneuring is Audax Club Parisien (ACP), which works with other randonneuring organisations worldwide through Les Randonneurs Mondiaux (RM). Randonneuring is popular in France, and has a following in The Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, United States, Canada, Brazil, Ireland, India, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and Malaysia.
Audax is a cycling sport in which participants attempt to cycle long distances within a pre-defined time limit. Audax is a non-competitive sport: success in an event is measured by its completion. Audax has its origins in Italian endurance sports of the late nineteenth century, and the rules were formalised in France in the early twentieth century.
The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, abbreviated as FMSCI, is the governing body for motor sports in India and was founded in 1971. It is a long-standing member of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the world bodies for 2/3 and 4 wheeler motor sport respectively.
The Cycling Federation of India is the national governing body of cycle racing in India. It is a member of the UCI and the Asian Cycling Confederation.
The Tour de Donut is an annual bicycle race held in Staunton, Illinois, and Troy, Ohio. In this unique bike event, riders' times are reduced by five minutes for each doughnut they consume during two pit stops in the nearby towns.
The UCI world championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winners wear a white jersey with coloured bands around the chest for the following year. The similarity to the colours of a rainbow gives them the colloquial name of "the rainbow jersey." The first three individuals or teams in each championship win gold, silver and bronze medals. Former world champions are allowed to wear a trim to their collar and sleeves in the same pattern as the rainbow jersey.
Red Zinger Mini Classics (RZMC) is a series of youth boys and girls road bicycle races held annually across the state of Colorado from 1981 to 1992, and revived again in 2010. The RZMC races served as an opportunity for young cyclists to get involved in the sport, and attracted hundreds of young boys and girls age 10–15 to each racing event.
Sport is a significant part of life in India. The country has a very long sports history, with sports being a part of tradition, culture, finance and entertainment. People in India closely follow various sports and enthusiastically participate in them. Cricket is the most popular spectator sport in the country, it generates the highest television viewership, and features full-capacity audiences in stadiums during international and Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. Also in recent decades, Football has also become another popular sport in terms of broadcast viewership and stadium audience attendance. The Indian Super League (ISL), is highest league of football in India. ISL and national team's matches attract considerable audience in stadium and on TV. The national football team have won two Gold medals at the Asian games, three Gold medals at the South Asian Games and one silver at the Asian Cup held in 1964 in Israel by virtue of their runner-up position, reached semifinal of the 1960 Olympics, qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup and have won SAFF Championship record number of times.
The Hyderabad Bicycling Club (HBC) is a bicycling club for riders in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Founded by Krishna Vadi in 2007, the club has now emerged as the world’s largest cycling club, overtaking the Denver Front Range Cycling Club, USA. It has grown over the years to reach its present membership strength of over 7,500 members and 2,800 members on Facebook. Its bike stations at Gachibowli and Necklace Road have transformed the city, resulting in greater local interest in the activity. The club organizes regular bicycling events in and around Hyderabad, broadcasting their upcoming events through social platforms like Meetup& Facebook.
The Tour of Nilgiris is a bicycle tour in India organised by Veloindians.
The HeroMTB Himalaya is an annual mountain bike race held in the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh, India. Started in 2005, the race covers nearly 650 km (400 mi) 16500 metres of climbing at an average altitude of 2200 meters in a span of 8 days and is one of the toughest MTB stage races in the world. The race is sponsored by Hero Cycles and Himachal tourism.
Ilkley Cycling Club is a community-based club that promotes cycling in the town of Ilkley, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
The Czech Cycling Tour is the largest stage race for professional cyclists in the Czech Republic. It was first held in 2009. The most successful cyclist in the race's short history is Leopold König with two triumphs. He is also now the race director.
Naveen John is an Indian racing cyclist, who currently rides for Indian team Karnataka.
Gravel cycling, gravel biking or gravel grinding is a sport, or a leisure activity, in which participants ride bicycles mostly on gravel roads. Sometimes, specially designed gravel bikes are used; in other cases, any bicycle capable of covering the terrain can be used.
| Mountain Bike | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Road | |||
| International Events |
| ||
 Cycling by country and city | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | |||||||||
| Asia | |||||||||
| Europe |
| ||||||||
| North America | |||||||||
| Oceania | |||||||||
| |||||||||||||
