Future of Cycling as a Sport In India

Cycling has been at the Olympics for more than a decade and has been a good contributor for medals at the Olympics. Many European countries have an edge over the sport compared to other regions. 

Last year in India the production of Cycles went up by a huge margin due to the pandemic with health being the major factor. But many in India don't see cycling as a professional sport which has been the major issue in India. This can be attributed to the fact that not much has been done to promote this sport. As with other sports, this does not need much financial support at the grassroots level. 

Every family in India has one cycle minimum but none of them had considered it as a sport to be played. This could be due to a lack of knowledge about that sport and various other reasons. But now things have started to change drastically. 

But How?

Esow Alben hailing from Andaman and Nicobar Islands showed Indians how Cycling can be considered a sport by winning medals in World junior events. In 2019 he was the 1st Indian in any age category to be ranked world no1 in sprinting events at the junior level. At the Berlin 6 day Cycling games he was the first Indian to be given an invitation to participate in the event. He did not disappoint either by winning silver in Keirin and finished overall 5th. 

Another young prodigy Ronaldo Singh was ranked first in all the sprint events at the junior level. Hailing from the Northeast he single-handedly won many junior events at the UCI championship. But he is yet to show his talent at the senior level which could be very tough given the competition.

These two Cyclists in the long term with enough opportunities can take Cycling to greater heights and even get an India medal at the Olympics with the talent they have.

Infrastructure.

India did not have a proper Velodrome till the CWG 2010. For this event India constructed a velodrome with good infrastructure. This could be considered as start for many Cyclists as they did not have proper Velodrome to practice. This has now been transformed with world class facilities hosting many events. With this sport becoming popular there are talks of Velodrome being constructed in the Northeast with many cyclists coming across from this region. 

Going forward India can see few Cyclist qualify at the Paris Olympics and by 2028 can eventually win a medal which has long been awaited. The reason why this sport needs to be given more importance is that it yields large number of medals at the Olympics than many other sports.