Pune Grand Tour: How a lapsed ‘cycle city’ clinched India’s biggest international cycling race

The 437-kilometre route for the Bajaj Pune Grand Tour 2026 — India’s first-ever Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) 2.2 multi-stage race — stands prepared, complete with robust logistical support covering hospitality, safety, and road upgrades.

The race, commencing on January 19, is set to be the biggest UCI 2.2-level race in the world. A 2.2-level UCI race is basically the entry-level race organised by the UCI, the global body governing cycle races. Points participants earn here count towards Olympic qualification.

The Pune edition, with 171 participants and 29 teams from 35 countries, not only surpasses the general average of 125 participants for a UCI 2.2 race but also breaks the earlier record of 144 participants.

With Pune being close to audaciously pulling it all off, is there a deeper lesson here for other urban centres?

Why the cycle race?

The idea was born of a mandate given by the government to its officers to work on the development of Pune. District Collector Jitendra Dudi, who has spearheaded the initiative, felt — after discussions with many stakeholders — that a sporting event linked to the city’s legacy was the best way to ensure infrastructure development, bring in more international tourists, put the city on the global map, and enhancing revenue for further development.

Preparations at Goodluck Chowk and FC Road as the Bajaj Pune Grand Cycle Tour race takes off. (Express Photo: Pavan Khengre)

“We took the cue from other places — like how Rajasthan reinvented itself 30 years ago by marketing its deserts, havelis and culture to the world, as did Kutch with the Rann festival,” Dudi said.

With the Tour de France example before all, it was decided to get the UCI 2.2 race to Pune.

How did the city clinch the event and prepare for it?

The Pune administration approached the Cycling Federation of India in June 2025, who immediately got into action, given that the UCI application deadline was just a week away. The carefully put together presentation highlighted the route through the picturesque and hilly landscape of Mulshi, Maval, Rajgad and Purandar against the backdrop of heritage sites, villages, and ghats. It proved to be a clincher and the UCI committee that met in Rwanda in September unanimously gave the go-ahead to the proposal.

With just about 3-4 months in hand post-monsoon, the Collector and municipal commissioner Naval Kishor Ram decided to put man and machine together to meet the international deadline.

The administration decided to divert about Rs 500 crore towards repairs and rebuilding of roads and other infrastructure. The surface of the roads had to be smooth, over 2,000 speed breakers had to be remobed from the route, and many roads had to be widened. “The convergence of various government departments and training engineers and contractors about the international standards for roads were the key,” said Dudi.

The race route passes through the picturesque and hilly landscape of Mulshi, Maval, Rajgad and Purandar. (Express photo: Pavan Khengre)

Tournament head Pinaki Bysack, who has worked with many such mega-sport events, moved from Kolkata to station himself in Pune for almost three months to supervise the preparations as per UCI specifications. “When I came to Pune and saw the roads in June, I said the event can’t be held here. But my doubts dissipated in the face of the fast-track work I witnessed from the various agencies involved,” said Bysack.

Contractors were told they would be fined Rs 1 lakh per day beyond the completion of work deadline and a clause held them responsible for the upkeep of the roads for the next five years.

What will the race do for Pune?

According to the city administration, the international deadline was viewed as an unprecedented opportunity to fast-track long-overdue improvements. The event was positioned as a “watershed” moment for Pune’s civic landscape. Of the 437-kilometre route, around 75 km of the race is within the Pune municipality limits, 52 km in the Pimpri Chinchwad limits, and the remaining in rural areas. For the city limits, the upgraded roads are being looked at as long-term benefits, especially with plans to bring back the race every year and add a different 100 kilometres to the route that must be rebuilt.

With pollution being a major concern, the administration has also been pushed to address that with some short-term measures and long-term plans of removing vehicles beyond a certain age from the roads as well as installing AQI meters producing live feed data from construction sites.

In the rural areas, where 310 kilometres of the cycle route lie, about 130 villages now have world-class roads. It is hoped that this connectivity will boost agriculture, small-scale industries and agro-tourism, other than enabling farmers to transport their produce quicker, avoid wastage and get better prices.

“As the cyclists pass through these villages, the commentators will talk about their culture, historic forts, polyhouses, GI-tagged fruits, and exotic farming like Dutch roses. We will run advertisements for the Maharashtra Tourism and Development Corporation (MTDC) during the live telecast on Jio Hotstar. Top influencers have been roped in to showcase the race — and Pune district — to the world.”

Last week, MS Dhoni came on board as brand ambassador for the event.

What will the race do for cycling?

According to Maninder Pal Singh, secretary general, Cycling Federation of India, cycling ranks as the third-largest medal sport in the Olympics, with qualification being highly competitive.

India for various reasons has been hosting limited cycle races and this one will provide Indian riders direct competition against pros, boost experience, bring in word-of-mouth promotion, and future invitations.

Organisers are also aiming for sustainability: upgrading to 2.1- (more competetive than a 2.2-level event) and then pro-level events, said Singh, hopeful of Pune’s potential as a global cycling hub. In fact, Singh pointed out, the Pune administration is already getting enquiries from governments like Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and others on how to replicate such an event.

What are the lessons for other cities?

The message being sent out by the Pune stakeholders is that sports can be a great trigger to deliver time-bound infrastructure of top quality, so cities should identify games as per their strength and host them. “Go for international hosting as it puts more good pressure to deliver world-class infrastructure,” said the Pune collector, adding that the various administrative units of cities often work in silos, and such projects bring coordination among them.

However, not all experts agree about the usefulness of such events. Renowned town planner Anita Benninger feels that rather than optic-heavy events, it is better for cities to address their problems more fundamentally. “Also, why increase tourism, that will come with more influx of people and vehicles? The focus should be on reducing both and making the city more liveable,” she said.