India’s 10 most successful cyclists at International level

Abhijit Nair

Published: 12 Dec 2020 10:55 AM GMT

For a major portion of Indians, cycling is just a fun and recreational activity. It is something you indulge in in-order to stay fit or more importantly to improve your height.

This perception though is slowly changing with more and more people starting to take cycling as a serious sport, thanks to some brilliant performances from quite a few prominent Indian cyclists at global level in recent times. Here, we look at 10 most successful cyclists for India at the international level:

Esow Alben

Esow Alben is one amongst the recent crop of Indian cyclists who have tasted some great success at the international level. A 19 year old track cyclist from the island of Andaman and Nicobar, Alben came to the limelight when he became the first Indian to win a medal at the Cycling World Championships. He did in the men’s keirin event at the 2018 UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championship held at Switzerland. The youngster has since gone to showcase some jaw dropping performances and has established himself as one of the top Indian cyclists.

Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam

Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam is yet another youngster who has made great progress at the international level in recent times. An 18 year old who specialises in track cycling, he was named after the footballing legend Ronaldo. He rose to fame during the 2019 Track Asia Cup after clinching four gold medals – Junior Keirin, Sprint, 1k Time Trial and Team Sprint. Ronaldo along with Alben, Jemsh Singh and Rojit Singh was a part of the Indian team which had qualified for the 2020 UCI Track World Championship in Berlin. He has also held the world number 1 rank in Men’s Junior Individual sprint, Men’s Junior 1k Time Trail and Men’s Junior Keirin at the same time during January 2020.

Deborah Herold

A 25 year old from the island of Andaman and Nicobar, Deborah is a track cyclist. She is the first ever Indian cyclist to make it to the UCI rankings in the 500m time trail. It was her stellar show during the 2015 Track Asia Cup which moulded India as a force in the cycling world. The youngster was ranked world number 4 in the 500m time trial in the year 2015. A serious knee injury in 2017 hampered her career quite a bit but she was back and helped India to a bronze medal in the Women’s Elite Team Sprint along with Aleena Reji during the 2019 Track Asia Cup.

Rameshwori Devi

Rameshwori Devi is a retired track cyclist. A CID officer and a mother of two, she was one of India’s earliest stars in cycling. Rameshwori Devi has won a total of 102 medals in her career including a silver in the 2005 Asian Cycling Championships.

Naveen John

Naveen John is a veteran amongst the Indian cycling circles. Aged 34 years, he specialises in road cycling. In 2016, Naveen became the first Indian to join an international professional cycling team when he was signed by the Australian team - State of the Matter MAAP Racing for the UCI Continental. Naveen along with Arvind Panwar became the first Indians to participate in the UCI Road World Championships when they competed in the time trial event in 2016.

Arvind Panwar

A 30 year old from the district of Meerut, Arvind is a road cyclist. A veteran in the Indian cycling circuit now, Arvind started cycling only after he turned 18 years old. Along with Naveen John, Arvind became the first Indians to participate in UCI Road World Championships when they competed in the time trial event in 2016 and finished 55^th. Besides, he has also won quite a few accolades for India during the 2018 and 2019 South Asian Games.

Bikram Singh

Aged 35 years old, Bikram Singh is a track cyclist. Bikram’s claim to fame happened when he clinched a bronze medal in the 1k time trial event during the 2010 Track Asia Cup held in Japan. He was a vital cog in the wheel alongside Amrit Singh and Amarjit Singh when India qualified for the UCI World Track Championships for the first time in the year 2012.

Devender Thakur

Just 26 years of age, Devender Thakur is already a veteran of mountain bike cycling. Introduced to the sport exactly a decade back, Thakur has went to on to win a plethora of accolades for the country in a short time span.

Amit Samarth

Amit Samarth is a 40 year old endurance cyclist. He became the first Indian and the first ever Asian to complete the Trans-Siberian Extreme in the year 2018 as a 38 year old. The Trans-Siberian Extreme is a 9,100km bicycle ride and is well known to put the human endurance to the toughest of tests. Amit finished the race in 25 days and cycled for 58 consecutive hours at one point.

Annul Pale

Annul Pale is a 28 year old BMX cyclist and earned a BMX sponsorship from Red Bull during the year 2018. Rising from the slums of Mumbai, Pale is India’s poster boy in BMX cycling.

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