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Cycling in India has travelled a long way – from being a ‘poor man’s transport, hobby of the rich man and medical activity for the old’ to evolving into a competitive and professional sport in the country. The Cycling Federation of India (CFI) is a pioneer in the promotion of cycling in India and directs, develops, regulates cycling under all forms in the country.Indian Cycling now has a very strong competitive community striving to to be the best. The right support and encouragement from the government can put India further and wider on to the world stage. This is a list of top 5 best cyclists in India in track and road racing. The criterion is their excellent performances in national level races and international representation for India.
#1 O. Bikram Singh
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Bikram Singh, (Born on Feb 3rd, 1985), a 30 year old cyclist from Imphal has made India proud, thanks to his achievements in track cycling. Singh played football till state level, before he took to cycling.
The 5th National Games, which were held in Manipur in Feb 1999, helped in enhancing the visibility of the sport in the state and became familiar and popular among the youth there. Right from the beginning, he always wanted to be a national champion and compete at an international level, and for this he chose an individual sport like cycling and worked very hard for it.
He always had the strength and support of his family. In December 2000, he first participated in the first National championship in Trivandrum, in the U-16 age category. He first landed a job with Indian Railways and in 2008, he moved to BSNL in Dimapur, Nagaland as a Sports Assistant. He is currently pursuing a diploma in Sports coaching at NSNIS in Patiala, Punjab. He has won 30 Gold medals, 15 Silver and 16 Bronze till now including the international achievements.
Highlights of his achievements are:
» Bronze medal in ACC Track Asia Cup 2010 - Japan Round - 1km Time Trial
» Silver and 1 Bronze in the prelims before Commonwealth Games ‘2010 held between 4 countries viz., Australia, Chinese Teipei, Malaysia and India- 1km Time Trial.
» India qualified for the first time for the world track cycling championship held in Australia in 2012 and Bikram Singh along with Amrit Singh and Amarjit Singh represented India.
#2 Amrit Singh
Amrit Singh, (Born on Oct 01, 1991), a 23-year old from Patiala, Punjab, is a sensation in Indian Cycling. He was one of the members of the Indian Squad who qualified to represent India for the first time in World Track Cycling Championship held in Australia in 2012.
He started cycling ever since, he was 8 years old and developed his interest towards the sport, while watching the cyclists training every day at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Patiala (NSNIS), which was at a few miles away from his house. He first participated in tthe National Championship in the U-12 age category in 2004.
Two years later in 2006, Amrit’s father passed away and as the only child, the responsibility of his family rested upon his shoulders. He works with Railways and takes care of his mother. With his hard work, he has won 34 gold, 11 silver and 3 bronze National and continental medals till now. He is coached by Rajinder Kumar Sharma.
Highlights of his achievements are:
» 2014: Track Asia cup, New Delhi - 1 Gold & 2 Bronze
» 1 Gold in each -National Games Time Trial, Kriein & Team Sprint
» 3 Gold – National Games 2015, Kerala and 4 silver – National Championship
» Represented India in World Track cycling championship held in Australia in 2012
» Represented India twice in Common Wealth Games, twice in Asian Games, thrice in World Cup, 6 times in Asian Cycling Championship and 6 times in Asia Cup.
#3 Sreedhar Savanur
Sreedhar Savanur, (Born on July 7, 1994), a 20-year old from Karnataka is one of India's leading road racing cyclist and has been a road racing champion for the past three years. He has been a recipient of the Eklavya award in the year 2013, the highest recognition Karnataka State Government confers for a sports person and prestigious KOA award.
He works with the Railways in Traffic department and his family lives in Jamkhandi, North Karnataka, and practice farming. He represents team Wheel Sports at various national level events. In the U-16 category, he has won nine gold, five silver and six bronze medals.
His excellent record in Indian national cycle racing includes:
» Representation of India at the Commonwealth Games 2014 Glassgow
» Representation of India for UCI Asian Cycling Championships in Open category in the racing track events and the mass start.
» 2015: Ahmedabad 100K Elite race - 1 Silver medal
» 2014: National Championship Criterium – 1 Bronze medal, 140Km road race – 1 Gold medal, Time Trial - 1 Silver medal
» 2013 & 2014: Consistent winner at the Vodafone Marathon 60 Km Champ ride – Points system
» 2012: Bihar - 3 Gold medals, 1 Bronze medal
» 2012: Delhi – 1 Silver medal (Track)
» 2011: Bihar – 3 Gold medals (2 in road, 1 TTT)
» 2011: Pune – 1 Silver medal (junior level - road), 1 Bronze medal (TTT)
» 2011: Patiala – 1 Silver medal (U18 Track), 1 Bronze medal (U18 Track)
#4 Deborah Herold
Deborah (Born on Feb 18th, 1995), a 20-year old wonder girl from Andaman & Nicobar Islands has carved a niche for herself in bicycle racing in India and also at an international level with her sheer determination and dedication.
In the destructive tsunami that hit Port Blair in 2004, Deborah, a 9-year old kid then had to spend an entire day on a tree to save herself; when her entire family got displaced due to the natural calamity. Her story of struggle started from that moment and there was no looking back after this.
She re-built her life from scratch and with her hard work and the training she got in Sports Authority of India (SAI) center in Andaman, Deborah emerged as one of the rising and one of the most favorite stars of Indian cycling.
Some of her achievements are:
» Won 4 golds in Track Asia Cup Cycling Championship 2014, New Delhi
» Won 2 gold medals – in the women’s elite Keirin (8 laps) and Sprint finals (3 laps) – on the final day of the championship for an overall individual tally of 4 gold medals.
» Won 2 gold medals in the junior category in the 2012 Nationals in Amritsar and has been a regular part of the Indian squad since then.
» Won the best medal haul (1 silver and 2 bronze) for an Indian cyclist in the junior category of the Hero Asian Cycling championship in New Delhi.
#5 C. Rameshwori Devi
Rameshwori Devi, a 38-year old cyclist from Manipur has won 102 medals altogether, including international achievements with her 100th medal as Gold. She is also a multiple national record holder. Devi started cycling in 1995 and has been garnering medals since then. She chanced upon cycling, after trying her hand in cricket, basketball and triathlons.
She is a mother of two kids and works as a CID Inspector. She took break from cycling for a span of 3 years devoting her time for maternal duties and jumped back on the saddle proving her mettel by beating the pre-race favorite Deborah in the women’s sprint event at the National Games in Kerala in 2015, clinching her 100th medal.
She has won 56 Golds and 15 Silver in National Meets and five gold and two silver in the international meets till now.
Highlights of her achievements are:
» 2015: 35th National Games, Kerala - 4 medals including 1 Gold
» 2005: Asian Cycling Championships - 1 Silver
» Represented India in Cycling at the 2010 Asian Games – Sprint, Prelims CWG – Women’s Sprint and CWG – Women’s 500 m Time Trial.
