Mysuru’s cycling festival brought more than 1,500 riders onto roads around the Mysuru Palace on Sunday, combining an international sporting event with family rides and children’s races, while road closures disrupted traffic on several major city routes.
The event, organised as the ‘L’Étape by Tour de France’ cycling competition, attracted participants from India, the United States, Australia, Mexico, Sri Lanka and France. Cyclists rode through areas around the palace and other parts of the city as Mysuru prepared for the Dasara celebrations.
The programme included a 20-kilometre Family Fun Ride and a one-kilometre children’s race. Families and children took part in the rides, while spectators gathered along the roads and applauded the participants. The event also featured cyclists who completed the route with assistance or adaptive arrangements.
Tamim Ansari, who lost his right hand in an accident in 2003, completed the challenging Chamundi Hill route without holding the right side of his bicycle’s handlebar. Participants with visual impairments, including Hemant, Shwetha and Mohammed Suhaib, completed the full route using tandem bicycles with the assistance of guides.
The races were flagged off by Mysuru-Kodagu MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya and Karnataka Additional Chief Secretary Rajendra Kataria. Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Lakshmikanth Reddy, Kataria, Škoda India brand director Ashish Gupta, Amaury Sports project manager Dara Rith and NEB Sports president M.D. Nagaraj Adiga were also present, according to the report.
The event began at around 6 a.m., and police closed vehicle movement along sections of the cycling route. Barricades were placed on important roads, including K.R. Circle and Arasu Road. The closures led to difficulties for commuters, while bus services from the city bus stand were also affected.
The disruption highlighted the operational challenge of hosting a large sporting event on central city roads during the Dasara period. While the cycling programme created a public spectacle around the palace and Chamundi Hill route, residents using the same corridors faced diversions and interruptions to regular bus movement.
The event also saw a language-related protest. Some Kannada activists attempted to protest what they described as the lack of priority given to Kannada on the stage, but police stopped them. The report did not provide further details on the traffic management arrangements or the duration of the road closures.