{"id":22548,"date":"2025-10-26T14:30:01","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T09:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesofpowerandvoice.com\/?p=22548"},"modified":"2025-10-26T14:30:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T09:00:09","slug":"pune-grand-tour-2026-gets-ucis-class-2-2-race-status-a-landmark-global-pro-stage-elite-race-for-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesofpowerandvoice.com\/?p=22548","title":{"rendered":"Pune Grand Tour 2026 gets UCI\u2019s Class 2.2 race status \u2013 a landmark global Pro Stage Elite Race for Men"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pune:<\/strong>\u00a0India has successfully secured the historic hosting rights for a landmark \u2018Pro Stage Elite Race for Men<\/em>\u2019 – an international cycling competition and an Olympic qualification points race. The proposed\u00a0Pune Grand Tour (PGT) 2026<\/strong>\u00a0will be India\u2019s first-ever Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) approved Class 2.2 classification competition, featuring multi-stage road race. Earmarked as an elite event in UCI\u2019s annual calendar, the\u00a0Pune Grand Tour 2026<\/strong>\u00a0is pegged as India\u2019s groundbreaking move into global cycling, combining with athletes grit, glory and passion for a world class competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scheduled from January 19 to 23, 2026<\/em>, the Pune Grand Tour 2026<\/strong>, inspired by iconic global stage race the Tour de France<\/em>, will see four competitive stages covering a distance of 437 km, riding through dynamic mix of urban stretches, hilly terrain and rural landscapes, testing riders endurance and showcasing geographic diversity of Pune district and Maharashtra\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terming it as a \u2018pivotal moment in Indian sporting history\u2019<\/em>, Jitendra Dudi (IAS), Pune District Collector and administrative incharge, Pune Grand Tour 2026<\/strong>, recognises the opportunity of hosting an UCI Class 2.2 race as an \u2018ambitious project aiming to make it an annual event in Pune.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe reckon the opportunity as a hallmark project to bring together India\u2019s sport, tourism and community pride. The inaugural season of Pune Grand Tour 2026 will lay the groundwork for transformative initiatives to build and enhance infrastructure bandwidth, aiming to put India and Pune on UCI\u2019s global cycling destination,\u201d<\/em> said Jitendra Dudi<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pankaj Singh, President, Cycling Federation of India (CFI)<\/strong> says, \u201cCFI is deeply committed to accelerating the growth of the sport in the country. Towards this journey, the Pune Grand Tour 2026 is a proud milestone. Hosting an UCI Class 2.2 race in partnership with Maharashtra Government reflects the State\u2019s ambition in embracing the sport. Pune Grand Tour 2026 will provide our athletes with a competitive environment along with world\u2019s Pro riders, world-class standards, and help strengthen India\u2019s position as a rising cycling nation.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Lappartient<\/strong>, President, Union Cycliste Internationale, <\/strong>said, \u201cWe are delighted to welcome the Pune Grand Tour to the UCI Tour calendar. Its recognition as a UCI 2.2 race marks a significant milestone for Indian cycling and reflects the region\u2019s commitment to promoting world-class sporting events.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organised by the Pune District Administration and the Government of Maharashtra, the Pune Grand Tour 2026 is being organized in collaboration the Cycling Federation of India (CFI).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pune:\u00a0India has successfully secured the historic hosting rights for a landmark \u2018Pro Stage Elite Race for Men\u2019 – an international cycling competition and an Olympic qualification points race. The proposed\u00a0Pune Grand Tour (PGT) 2026\u00a0will be India\u2019s first-ever Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) approved Class 2.2 classification competition, featuring multi-stage road race. Earmarked as an elite event […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pune"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesofpowerandvoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesofpowerandvoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesofpowerandvoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesofpowerandvoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesofpowerandvoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22548"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/timesofpowerandvoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22550,"href":"https:\/\/timesofpowerandvoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22548\/revisions\/22550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesofpowerandvoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesofpowerandvoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesofpowerandvoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesofpowerandvoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}