Ashish, Rujuta race to the top

Armyman K Ashish of Kerala won the Men's Open Road Race in the Pune Bicycle Championship at Lavasa. He won the 12-km event in a lung-bursting 29.07 minutes. The race was from Karavade to Lavasa gate and featured several steep climbs.

Amarnath Chauhan of Ahmednagar won the Men's Open (mountain bike) and Pune girl Rujuta Satpute lifted the Women's Open (mountain bike) in the fourth edition of the race.

Nashik lad Pramod Ambike won the Youth (mountain bike) event, while Sushil Dhende lifted the title in the Men's Open (hybrid) event. The Senior Men's (mountain bike) event saw Prashant Tidke emerging winner. Sanjay Karandikar, who formerly represented the Indian waterpolo team, was crowned champion in the Senior Men's (hybrid) event, while Anjali Bhalinge won the Senior Women's (hybrid) event.

The race in 8 categories attracted 227 participants. Cyclists from Hyderabad, Sangli, Army Sports Institute, Balewadi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Nashik, Kolhapur and Pune raced alongside some amateurs from Russia, Israel, Germany, US and Scotland.

The 'charity ride' drew a sizeable response.

In the 'charity ride', cyclists did not compete for titles but their entry fees were donated to education and empowerment projects run by the Sane Guruji Mitra Mandal.

Nachiket Joshi, one of the founding members of the Pune Bicycle Championship, said the organizing committee was looking to add another race to the calendar. "We got a fantastic response to all four editions and are hopeful of adding another race, which will take place on Sinhagad sometime this year." he said.

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