Image credit : Illustrative image

The 10th Edition of Tour of Nilgiris 2017, will witness 128 cyclists from across the Globe pedaling for the honour from December 10.

The grand tour coincides with 200th year of the invention of the cycle and has drawn talented cyclists who test their endurance and grit in the most demanding terrains across the three state of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

This is a pioneering initiative of RideACycle Foundation (RAC-F), a not-for-profit advocacy organization to popularize cycling for
commuting, leisure, as an agent of social change and importantly nurturing cycling talent nationally.

The event is scheduled between December 10 and 17 and cyclists will begin the tour from Bengaluru and pedal through Mysuru, Madikeri, Sultan Bathery, Udhagamandalam and finish it by pedaling back to Mysuru, RACF Co-founder, Deepak Majipatil said.

The cyclists will cover around 1,000 kms across seven stages through curves, speedways, amazing terrains including plains, mountains, coffee and tea plantations and three wild life sanctuaries. In-addition through the seven stages there will be competitive segment, wherein the cyclists could display their craft and grit.

Of the 128 cyclists, 120 are men and the remaining women, with 110 cyclists hailing from different parts of India and 18 are from overseas and hail from The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, USA and Russia.

Three charity riders–Rajanikanth Puttabuddi rides for Kenneth Anderson Nature Society (focusing on wildlife conservation in the Melagiri forest region spanning the Hosur and Dharmapuri Forest Divisions of Tamil Nadu); Shankar Jayaraman will raise funds for Sita Bhateja Speciality Hospital (aiming to make spine surgery affordable and accessible to everyone especially the underprivileged); and Vivek Radhakrishnan and Rajkumar Knot will pedal for Iksha Foundation (a charitable trust focusing on Retinoblastoma (eye cancer), Deepak said.