India hopes to see the Bajaj Pune Grand Tour grow into a major stage races as the country makes serious moves to establish itself as a pro cycling power.
Bajaj Pune Grand Tour
Following the success of the inaugural Pune Grand Tour in January, the UCI appears enthusiastic to capitalise on India’s swell of pro cycling interest, with the South Asian nation in contention to host the 2032 road world championships.
A decision is set to be announced at the 2026 UCI Congress, which will be held during the world championships in Montréal next month. Speaking to the media on a visit to the Tour de France Femmes, UCI President David Lappartient revealed that the Netherlands is also in contention to host the 2032 worlds. The event was last held in the Netherlands in 2012 and should the Gronigen and Drenthe bid be successful, it would create a four-year consecutive run of European-held world championships – alongside Denmark in 2029, Belgium in 2030 and Italy in 2031.
This, combined with the UCI’s increasing push to globalise professional cycling, points to the likelihood of India’s success in its bid. Lappartient was also keen to qualify why India was in the running when speaking to Ouest-France. “We received a bid from India for the 2032 World Championships. We’ll decide in September between India and the Netherlands. India has 1.4 billion inhabitants. We even have an Indian woman at our training camp in Brittany,” Lappartient said, latterly referring to 19-year-old Harshita Jakhar, who is India’s cycling star in the making, training in Brittany as part of the UCI’s ‘Global 2028’ initiative.
The Tour of Qatar is on course to return in 2027
Qatar is looking to re-enter the cycling game, and they’ve enlisted former WorldTour Sports Director and Grand Tour stage-winner Rik Verbrugghe to help.
The worlds are set to be held in the UAE in 2028, a first visit to Asia since Qatar’s championships in 2016. The event was held in Asia on just one other occasion, when Utsunomiya, Japan, played host back in 1990.
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