India aims to put on 'best-ever' world championships as Olympic ambitions take shape

BENGALURU, Oct 9 : The Cycling Federation of India is boldly promising the "best-ever" Road World Championships when Pune hosts the 2032 edition, hoping it can cement the country's emergence as a destination for world-class sport and boost its 2036 Olympics bid.

Having successfully conducted the first multi-stage road race in India with the Pune Grand Tour in January, the western Indian city is now keen to prove it can host races above the International Cycling Union's lowest tier.

The opportunity arrived as something of a surprise when the CFI were invited to address the UCI earlier this year, a meeting at which they hoped only to get the Pune Grand Tour upgraded.

"The world championships weren't on our agenda at all when we went there," CFI Secretary General Maninder Pal Singh told Reuters in a video call. 

"When we presented to the management committee, the president of UCI, David Lappartient, himself came out with the idea.

"He said, 'you're doing so well. We've seen the growth of Indian cycling, especially from 2012. It's been phenomenal. Now I think you're ready to host a world championships.' Our first reaction was, 'of course, we would love to.'

"It all had to be done very, very quickly, because the UCI congress was just a couple of months away."

Pune was confirmed as the host city of the world championships at the congress in Montreal in September.     

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS OF INDIA

Despite India's relative inexperience when it comes to hosting major cycling tournaments, and logistical challenges like underdeveloped infrastructure and poor traffic management, Singh did not hold back on his ambitions for the world championships.

"It'll be even more special because of the challenges that our country already has," Singh