Lt Gen Jagdish Chander (Retd) Chairman Wheel Publications & Exposition

India is blessed by the temple’s in Heaven to possess all of natures beauty, serenity and luxury which is so abundantly visible in its mystical culture, people, and places. Its diverse and attractive landscape and terrain and its rich heritage has mesmerized people for centuries to explore its culture, knowledge and depth of spirituality to find the answer to just one word- the Truth. It has attracted all kinds of peoples across all lands from Alexander the Great to Sun Tzu and Chenghis Khan to the Mughals, British, French, Spanish and Portugese explorers, etc. India’s unity in diversity of languages, ethnicity, cultures and religions has astonished the worldly wise; who have found inspiration to write lavishly about it. A centre for the origin of four religions Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, it is probably the most intriguing land on the earth worth investigating and promoting. Highly explored and plundered, yet it remains mysterious and magical. Exploring India is a dream of many which remains unfulfilled for most. Yet it is something which can be achieved through the medium of travel. And what better than to travel at a pace where it can be cherished, absorbed, enjoyed and imbibed. Yes, I am suggesting a “Tour de India” on bicycles.

It is intended to organize and conduct “Tour de India” event from 2010 as an annual event in the salubrious wintry climate, to promote India as a destination for this sporting event and tourism.

“Tour de India” on bicycles will provide the following benefits to the Indian Tourism and Travel industry, besides the other spill over advantages of employment, entertainment and economic stability, etc. to the rural populace. It will;

(a) Promote India as a destination for the conduct of this professional race.

(b) Contribute to promotion of casual, adventure and pleasure tourism.

(c) Promote the Indian Bicycle Industry.

(d) Integrate diversity with unity and spread this message of harmony and tolerance throughout the International community.

(e) Bridge the gap between rural and urban India.

(f) Expose rural India’s riches of culture and heritage.

(g) Carry the message of a green India.

(h) Transfer interest to the rural areas in India.

(i) Create employment opportunities and jobs in rural India.

(j) Propagate awareness for clean environment with mass participation.

(k) Generate pride in organizing such an international event annually.

(l) Display India’s ability as an emerging power centre of the near future.

(m) Assist in utilization of world class technologies obtained for the Commonwealth Games for other sports and not allow them to go to seed.

A desire to travel and see the richness of our whole country is a wish and a dream of every adventurous Indian. What with the kind of topography and terrain diversity India offers, right from the Great Himalayan Ranges in the north; to the Thar Desert in the West; the Western Ghats and the long coast line leading right through Goa and the backwaters of Kerala in the South, up to the southern tip of Kanyakumari. Leaving the coastline aside for sometime the track then meanders up to the holy town of Madurai; and up along the Wild forests of South East India to Pondicherry, returning to Delhi after traveling along the East coast through Chilka, Puri, the Sundarbans of Bengal and along the historic Sher Shah Suri (Grand Trunk) Road via Varanasi and Sangam town of Allahabad. In fact much more can be added to the proposed route, i.e., the route of North East India from Agartala/Imphal to Guwahati via Shillong/Kohima and further to Siliguri via Kalimpong and Darjeeling but for the time being that will be held in abeyance till the security situation in the NE states improves.

The purpose of the event is to primarily promote the cycling event ‘Tour de India” besides bringing together of rural and urban India and creating greater awareness amongst the urban masses about rural India and vice versa. The event will be organized at two levels of participation.

(a) Competitive Section.

(b) Participative Section.

In the competitive level there will be four different classes of participation to cater for mixed participation. However, the total competitive participants will not exceed 90 and /or 15 teams of 6 each in the inaugural year. The different classes of participants will be as follows:

(a) Foreign participants : 7 teams

(b) Indian participants : 4 teams

(c) Ladies participants : 2 teams

(d) Children participants : 2 teams
(aged 15 - 18 years)

In the participative category the participation will be permitted for as many gentlemen, ladies and children as possible and their competition will be confined to a modest distance of about 15-25 kilometers at each of the selected/earmarked bigger towns. Their participation race will precede the start of the competitive section.

Route for the First “Tour de India” Event is divided into 14 Legs

First Day

Start Point: India Gate, New Delhi
Distance: 25 kms, with in municipal limits of the town.
Participation. Competitive and Participative.
Total Distance: 25 Kms

B: Second Day

Start Point: Delhi
Distance: 220 kms
Participation: Competitive
Route: Delhi-Panipat-Karnal-Ambala-Panchkula.
Total Distance: 245 Kms

C: Third day

Start Point: Chandigarh
Distance: 15 kms/ 225 kms
Participation: Competitive and Participative.
Number: All Competitive and maximum participative.
Route: Chandigarh-Bilaspur-Mandi-Dharamshala.
Total Distance: 470 Kms

D Day (Fourth Day)

Start Point: Dharamshala.
Distance: 162 kms
Participation: Competitive.
Route: Dharamshala-Chamba-Dalhousie-Pathankot
Total Distance: 632 kms

E: Fifth Day

Start Point: Pathankot
Distance: 167 kms
Participation: Competitive.
Route: Pathankot-Dasua-Hoshiarpur-Ludhiana
Total Distance: 799 kms

F: Sixth Day

Start Point: Ludhiana
Distance: 15/237 kms
Participation: Participative and Competitive.
Route: Ludhiana-Bathinda-Ganganagar.
Total Distance: 1,036 kms

G: Seventh Day

Start Point: Ganganagar
Distance: 253 kms
Participation: Competitive.
Route: Ganganagar-Hanumangarh-Bikaner.
Total Distance: 1,289 kms

H: Eighth day: Rest Day

J: Ninth Day

Start Point: Bikaner.
Distance: 333 kms
Participation: Competitive.
Route: Bikaner-Phalodi-Pokharan-Jaisalmer.
Total Distance: 1622 kms

K: Tenth Day

Start Point: Jaisalmer
Distance: 157 kms
Participation: Competitive.
Route: Jaisalmer-Devikot-Barmer.
Total Distance: 1779 kms

L: Eleventh Day

Start Point: Barmer
Distance: 165 kms
Participation: Participative.
Route: Barmer-Jodhpur.
Total Distance: 1944 kms

M: Twelfth day

Start Point: Jodhpur
Distance: 15/205 kms
Participation: Competitive.
Route: Jodhpur-Ajmer.
Total Distance: 2149 kms

N: Thirteenth Day

Start Point: Ajmer
Distance: 131 kms
Participation: Competitive.
Route: Ajmer-Jaipur.
Total Distance: 2233 kms

O: Fourteenth Day

Start Point: Jaipur
Distance: 15/260kms
Participation: Participative and Competitive.
Route: Jaipur-Delhi.
Total Distance: 2499 kms.

It is indeed amazing how many miles one needs to travel to really get to go around this prodigious country-India, as an abridged Northern India route/loop itself covers nearly 2500 kms (intentionally left out the Ladakh sector for obvious reasons) The Western, Southern, Eastern and the Central routes similarly traverse over approximately 2000 kms each and therefore are not being included in the first event of its kind for reasons of organizational, administrative and technical difficulties. With a hope to create an internationally recognizable event which will put us on the world podium by organizing a cycling event of such a magnitude, Wheels Publications and Expositions wishes to be the inspiration behind “Tour de India”, with the cooperation of Bicycle Industry, trade and sports Association’s as it would promote cycling and its associate Industry)*.

*There have been indications and suggestions from the bicycle industry that the Inaugural "Tour De India" Event should preferably be confined to a limited distance to cover the route along the Expressway or the Golden Triangle (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur-Delhi). This is also under examination and consideration.