When the Indian cycling team embarks on the newly-built velodrome early on Tuesday morning,there are no medals for them to defend,no previous best international records to beat,and no preceding Indian medalists to look up to. Though cycling has been a part of the Games since 1934,no Indian has ever made it to the podium. In fact,the last time an Indian cyclist qualified for the multi-nation event was in 1978 and the only reason why Indian cycling is a part of the XIXth Commonwealth Games is because it is the host country. However,itll be an uphill ride to convert this golden opportunity into the metal of the same colour. But there is still much to root for in the womens 500m time trial final and the mens 1000m time trial final events which are scheduled for Tuesday. In the four-nation cycling test event that marked the inauguration of the I.G Stadium velodrome,Mahitha Mohan,who will be initiating Indias campaign in the 500m individual time trial on Tuesday,won two medals a gold and a bronze in 10km scratch race and individual pursuit. Though Mahitha won the gold while defeating opponents from podium favourite Australia,an even stronger Aussie squad awaits Mahitha on Tuesday. Giving Mahitha a tough ride in the time trial event will be 2004 Olympic medalist and reigning CWG champion from Australia - Anna Meares - against who Mahithas double gold medals at the 2010 South Asian Games look rather meek. All three Indian contenders - Mahitha Mohan,Rameshwari Devi and Rejani V are expected to better their best trial times of 37.4,38.52 and 38.9 seconds respectively but the gold medalist on Tuesday is pretty much expected to clock a time under 34 seconds. This opening event is even more crucial for the three Indian riders because their positions in the 500 m team sprint will be decided based on their individual timings in the time trial. While the Indian women will be hoping for a top-five finish,the toughest task for the men will be when they strive to qualify for the 4000m individual pursuit where Sombir ,Dayala Ram Saran and Vinod Malik will be participating. This event,where two riders race against the clock on each side of the track,is one of the toughest. The winner on Tuesday is expected to record a time less than 4.20 seconds,and more than 10 Indian riders broke the earlier national record of 5.03 seconds in the CWG trials and are expected to clock a time under 4.50 seconds. Two other hurdles await the Indian team two world record holders from Australia are participating in this event apart from stiff competition from world number two and three,New Zealand and Great Britain. Secondly,all the individual pursuit riders are also members of Indian team pursuit squad,which will be racing on Wednesday and have to make sure they conserve their energy,and avoid all injuries. If the Indian trio qualify in the morning session,the individual pursuit bronze medal,and gold medal races are scheduled at noon. The last team to hit the velodrome will be the 40km points race participants Rajender Kumar Bishnoi,Amandeep Singh and Atul Kumar.
