Thaindian News

Mumbai, April 21 (IANS) Sportsmen Leander Paes, Viren Raquinha and Karun Chandok, Mumbai MP Milind Deora and model Nicole Faria will be among the 6,000 people expected to participate in Sunday’s second edition of the BSA Hercules India Cyclothon, a company official said Thursday.

Organised by Sport18, a sports marketing division of Network18 in association with TI Cycles, the makers of BSA and Hercules cycles, the cyclothon will also be supported by Bollywood actor Imran Khan for the cause of animal welfare.

“So far the cyclothon has already received over 4,000 registrations. Some of the participating corporates are Citibank, UTI Bank, Trident Group, Fidelity, Future Group, Tata Motors and Reliance Industries,” said Satish Menon, CEO of Sport18.

“By the end of Saturday, we are expecting over 6,000 to participate. Some of Mumbai’s most prominent personalities riding at the cyclothon are Leander Paes, Milind Deora, Viren Rasquinha, Karun Chandok and Nicole Faria, he said.

The event will be flagged off from Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex in suburban Bandra and will have a cycling route of approximately 60 km, which will be cordoned off from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m.

The cyclothon will have four participation categories - Amateur Ride (20 km), LG Green Ride (10 km), Corporate Ride (20 km) and Junior Ride (6 km). In addition, professional cyclists can participate in the by-invitation-only Elite National Race (60 km).

Participating in the Elite National Men’s category will be the Auroville Cycling Team from Pondicherry. The team of four foreign nationals have been mountain biking for the last 20 years.

Over 350 Mumbai ‘Dabbawalas’ will also be participating in the race.

“It is a matter of great pride for us to bring the second edition of the BSA Hercules India Cyclothon in Mumbai. Cycling is an activity that cuts across age groups, socio-economic classes and genders and an event of this scale of symbolises this,” said Rajesh Mani, general manager of TI Cycles.