Smooth sailing for cycle race,barring the finish

An angry Amandeep,who was under the misconception that winner Rajesh had caused him to fall,slapped him. Realising his mistake,he apologized later.

A minute-and-a-half before Amandeep fell,a convoy of minister Ajit Pawar had passed through. After that,more traffic was allowed to pass and this caused a lot of confusion at the finish line,leading to the unfortunate incident.

Rajesh,on the other hand,was confused as to where the finish line was. “There was no proper finish line and I was confused,” he said.    

When Maharashtra Cycling Association secretary Pratap Jadhav was asked about lack of proper arrangements at the finish line,he claimed he was not present at the finish line when the incident happened. “I was in the middle of the route when this happened so I do not know the details,” he said.

But in the end,it was not all that bad for Amandeep as he won the Khopoli sprint and was awarded the ‘King of the Ghat’. But a final victory would have capped a record-breaking performance.

The racers were flagged off from the Gateway of India early on Saturday morning. They went through Panvel,Khopoli and Kamshet before reaching the finish line at Sambhaji Park.