US cyclist wins first day 'Tour of Nilgiris'

US cyclist Bjorn Suetens has won the first day’s event of the ‘Tour of Nilgiris’ organised by Ride a Cycle Foundation in the masters category covering a distance of 15 km in 22m.39 sec. In the open category.

In the open category Naveen John from India has won covering a distance of 15 kms in 12m.37 sec and in the women’s category Anjali Bhalinge claimed the first place covering a distance in 26min.08 sec.

This is the fifth edition of TFN 2012 which was flagged off on Sunday at the Sullivan Police Hockey Grounds, Bangalore, where 85 cyclists (national and international), including eight women riders took off on their journey.

They would pedal their way up to Nilgiris and back over a period of eight days covering a distance of 860 kms.

The tour will cover Mysore, Madikeri, Sultanbathery, Ooty, Mettupalayam and Chamarajanagar. It also covers three wildlife sanctuaries of Bandipur in Karnataka, Wayanad in Kerala and Madumalai in Tamil Nadu.

Addressing the media, here on Sunday co-founder of Tour of Nilgiris Sridhar Pabbisetty said, “Over the years, TFN has gained a lot of popularity in the cycling community. Through it we hope to promote eco tourism an environmental-friendly way of travelling and fun way to keep fit.”

Competitive

The difference in the fifth edition of the TFN is the introduction of the competitive section,which will take place during the tour. While an average day’s ride ranges between 100 and 180 kms, there will be competitive sections on certain climbs almost every day, he said.

The other winners in the masters category are Mohan Kumar (2nd) and Deepak Shashikant (3rd), in the open category Lokesh Narasimhachar (2nd), Dipankar Paul (3rd) and in the women’s category Shylaja Singh Sridhar (2nd) and Deepali Nitin Joshi (3rd).