MANANTHAVADY (WAYANAD):
Lending vibrancy to a 38-km stretch along the Western Ghats, the 6th edition of MTB (Mountain Bike) Kerala will see cyclists from across the country and abroad test their racing skills along the unpaved pathways of India’s first such competitive event listed under the world body governing the sport.
MTB 2019, which features 21 professional cyclists from 12 countries including India in the international category slated for Sunday (December 22), will start off this Thursday with ‘Fun and Thrill’ races for men and women separately. Kerala Minister Kadannappalli Ramachandran will formally inaugurate the event on Sunday, which coincides with the MTB’s national-level races.
The rugged venue around Priyadarshini Tea Environs in this town of the state’s northeastern Wayanad district will hold MTB for three days from December 20. Being organised by the Kerala government’s Department of Tourism under the aegis of Kerala Adventure Tourism Promotion Society (KATPS), District Tourism Promotion Council-Wayanad and the Cycling Federation of India (CFI), MTB is the country’s pioneering mountain bike race to feature in the calendar of the Switzerland-based UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) as the apex organisation for cycling bodies the world over.
MTB’s races under the international and national categories will be held on a circular pathway spanning 4.8 km around the Priyadarshini Tea Environs. The red-earth track, punctuated with boulders and mud, is 3,000 feet above the sea level.
The national-level races will have 60 men and 20 women vying in separate categories of the MTB that strictly follows the guidelines of the 1900-founded UCI and the CFI set up in 1936, according to KATPS Chief Executive Officer Manesh Bhaskar.
As for the international races, the cyclists are from Armenia, Bahrain, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Uzbekistan besides India. The top winner of this segment will get a purse of Rs 1.5 lakh, while those finishing second, third, fourth and fifth get Rs 1 lakh, Rs 50,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 20,000, respectively.
The ‘Fun and Thrill’ segment for men and women will have cyclists who have registered in advance. These races, with an eastward trajectory from Priyadarshini Estate to the Kuruva Island before returning to the starting point, will span 38 km in total. While it is the trial for ‘Fun and Thrill’ on Thursday (December 20), the final of this amateur category will be held the next day. The first three winners of both categories of this event qualify for the MTB national category races on Sunday.
The winner of the national-level cross-country race (men) will secure Rs 1 lakh, followed by Rs 50,000, Rs 25,000, Rs 20,000 and Rs 15,000 for the first, second and third runner up. The women’s section winner gets Rs 50,000, while those finishing second and third will secure Rs 25,000, Rs 20,000 and Rs 15,000, respectively.
The winner in National Cross-Country (Men) will secure a prize money of Rs 1 lakh, while the first, second and third runner-up will get Rs 50,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively. As for the National Cross-Country (Women), the winner will be presented Rs 50,000, followed by Rs 25,000, Rs 20,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively for the first three runners-up.
As for ‘Fun and Thrill’, the top three winners will get cash prizes, medals and a certificate.
