JOIN USSuper Savanur wins Champ Ride
A superbly paced charge from Karnataka’s Sreedhar Savanur helped him win the 60km champions ride at the Vodofone Cycling Marathon which was held here on Sunday.
Since this was a points-based race, importance was on maintaining track position and consistency rather than blowing hot and cold and that was exactly what Sreedhar did to come away with a prize money of Rs 2.5 lakh.
The emphasis was actually not on finishing the race first but accumulating the most number of points in the 12-lap race around the Sree Kanteerava Stadium and its immediate perimeter.
Karnataka’s N Lokesh, who fell out of the top three as the race was coming to the business end, Tamil Nadu’s C Rajesh and Sreedhar formed the early breakaway before Sreedhar moved ahead with 18 points with two laps to go.
Rajesh, who finished second with 17 points crossed the line in first place, but Sreedhar, representing Wheels Sports, had already taken an unassailable lead of 21 points to emerge victorious. He finished the race in an hour and fifteen minutes.
Sreedhar, 20, said he was confident going into the race. “I was confident of doing well today (Sunday). I am a skilled road racer and I got my strategy right,” Sreedhar said.
Amarjit Singh of National Campus took the third place with 10 points after some intense wheel-to-wheel cycling along side Satbir Singh, who finished fourth.
In the first race of the morning, the 40km Passion Ride, Karnataka’s Balesh Savanur crossed the line in first place. His state-mates, Siddharth Kansal and Sadashiv Malappa, were second and third.
However, racing wasn’t the only thing on the agenda with the third event of the day, the 20km Green Ride, urging Bangaloreans to ‘go green’ for the environment. Most of the participants of the green ride turned up wearing green with some even opting to cover their cycles with a healthy dose of green.
The last race of the day, the 10km fun ride, featured a good number of children participate, with the youngest being just 2-and-half-years of age, which prompted the organisers to hand out an award for the youngest rider of the day.
Results: Champion Ride: Sreedhar Savanur (21 points), 1; C Rajesh (17 points) 2; Amarjit Singh (10 points) 3.
Passion Ride: Balesh Savanur 1; Siddharth Kansal 2; Sadashiv Malappa 3.