India, Jan. 20 -- The prologue race of the Bajaj Pune Grand Tour 2026 on Monday offered a glimpse into the scale and international standards of one of India's biggest cycling events. The competition features 164 cyclists from 28 teams representing 35 countries who will pedal around 437 kilometres across the Sahyadri ranges.

The prologue marked a promising start to the race to be held from January 20 to 23.

Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar flagged off the 7.5-kilometre individual time-trial prologue from Gopal Krishna Gokhale Chowk at 1.30 pm. Divisional commissioner Chandrakant Pulkundwar, Pune municipal commissioner Naval Kishore Ram and Pune district collector Jitendra Dudi attended the ceremony.

Cyclists started at one-minute ...