Overview
- Twenty-nine teams from 35 countries are now in Pune, including squads from Morocco, the Philippines, Indonesia, Great Britain, Mauritius and Guam.
- India fields two squads of six — a National Team and a Development Team — for its largest home contingent to date.
- The published course opens with a 7.5 km prologue at Goodluck Chowk before four stages of 87.2 km, 105.3 km, 134 km and 95 km across Pune and the Western Ghats.
- Riders and coaches praised freshly repaved roads and organisation, with Indian cyclist Surya Thathu saying a ghat descent “felt like we were in France.”
- Organised by the Pune District Administration and Maharashtra government under the Cycling Federation of India with Bajaj as title sponsor, the race is positioned as a catalyst for Indian road-cycling development.