Mountain Bike National Championship: 443 Participants To Be In Action During 18th MTB In Pune

Pune, 27th October 2021: A record number of 443 participants drawn from 26 affiliated states and units will be seen in action during the 18th MTB (Mountain Terrain Biking) Mountain Bike National Championship, scheduled to begin at Alandi-Pune from Friday, 29 October, 2021.

The three-day event, organised by the Cycling Association of Maharashtra (CAM) under the aegis of Cycling Federation of India (CFI), will be held in four categories namely the ‘Elite’ men-women, ‘Junior’ men-women, ‘Sub Junior’ boys-girls and ‘Youth’ boys-girls.

A total of 19 events form the entire competition programme and includes races the Time Trial, Cross Country Mass Start, Downhill and Mix Team Relay.

CAM Organizing Committee Chairman, Pratap Jadhav says, “This year the competition will be close. Competitors are serious and at least eight teams totaling 150 participants have already been practicing at the venue familiarizing the trail and track.”

It was learnt that cyclists from Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Rajasthan, Uttrakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka and host’s Maharashtra have set base in and around the venue and practicing in earnest. 

The undulating track has been set around a 4.7 km trail atop a hillock at Alandi – a town popular as a place of pilgrimage and moreover the resting place of the 13th century Marathi Saint Dnyaneshwar.

This year the championship has three newcomer states, from North-East Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh and Goa from the West.

For Maharashtra, the National championship is be 9th time that they are playing hosts. “At one point we conducted the Nationals for five times-in-a-row between 2014 to 2018,” says Jadhav. “There has been a steady rise in participation. Back in 2014, I remember there were 185 participants, which swelled to 343 when we last conducted the championship in 2018, today the number has crossed 400, which is an upward trend and a healthy trend,” he explains.

Last year’s champions Karnataka and runners-up Maharashtra will once again renew their rivalry they had during the Nationals held at Gadag, Karnataka.

Among the participating states, Rajasthan with 44 participants (29 men-boys and 15 women-girls) has the largest contingent, followed by Maharashtra (37) and Kerala (34).

The championship will get underway at 9.00 a.m on all three days, barring the opening day wherein the inauguration has been slated for 8.00 a.m.

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