Pune Grand Tour brings cycling buzz—and traffic chaos—to Pune
Pune just hosted its first-ever UCI 2.2 men's road race, the Grand Tour, with a prolog reported as 7.5km by some sources and 8km by others on January 19.
While the city got a taste of international cycling action, major roads were shut between 9:00am and 6:00pm making life tricky for locals.
City traffic takes a hit
With key roads closed from morning to evening, PMPML had to cancel 2,500 bus trips and reroute many others.
Daily commuters like Aniket Bhattad still got stuck despite leaving early, while Sunita Kamble missed out on her daily wages because she couldn't get to work.
Aussie cyclist leads the pack
Amid all the disruption, Australian rider Fergus Browning sped through the course in just over eight minutes to win the prolog.
India's own Harshveer Singh Sekhon finished as top local at 26th place.
The prolog drew a 164-strong peloton from 35 countries—definitely a big moment for Pune's sports scene.