Sarabjeet wins Pune-Baramati cycle race

Pune, July 23 (UNI) Sarabjeet Singh, a constable with the Punjab Police, won the 110.8-km Pune-Baramati cycle race.

Sarabjeet's dominance was complete and he finished the race seven minutes ahead of others.

Breaking away from the group after Jejuri (about 50 kms from Pune), the Gurdaspur-based constable clocked two hours 53.26 minutes to take the winner's trophy and the cash prize of Rs 15,000.

Karnataka duo -- Laxman Terdal and Shekhar Nari came second and third respectively. The race was organised yesterday by the Baramati Mandal to mark the 48th birthday of State Water Resource Minister Ajit Pawar.

''It was a very pleasant race, expect for some bad patches of rough road,'' said 25-year-old Sarabjeet who rode an Italian-make bicycle.

''I was fortunate not to have any problems. This result has boosted my morale and I'll now look forward to the next Mumbai-Pune race,'' Sarabjeet added. In the first 15-20 kilometres, he had trailed behind the Kartnataka riders.

The Karnataka riders were good at climbing the Dive Ghat and Sabu Ganiger (Karnataka) was crowned ''King of the Ghat''. He scaled the hill in just 10 minutes and two seconds with his team-mates Sanghamesh Talawar and Terdal following him.

The descent was quite fast for Ganiger who took a good lead of over a kilometre and was followed by a group of 15 that included cyclists from Karnataka, Pune's Krida Prabodhini and Armoured Corps Centre and School (ACCS), Ahmednagar.

Just a couple of kilometres before Jejuri, Ganiger's cycle developed a puncture and he lost the lead to Sarabjeet, Terdal and Ramesh Shengade (Pune). As the leading trio battled their way over the treachrous Nira-Korhale stretch, the second group was steadily closing the gap and at a point came within seconds of catching up.

But thereafter Sarabjeet broke clear from the main group and, gradually increasing speed and widening the gap, never looked behind till the finish.

Earlier, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil flagged off the race that attracted 126 riders -- 60 in the open category and 66 in Indian-made cycle category.

Following were the results: Pune-Baramati (110.8 Kms): 1. Sarabjeet Singh (Punjab Police, 2 hours 53.26 mins), 2. Laxman Terdal (Karnataka, 3: 00.12), 3. Shekhar Nari (Karnataka 3:00.12), 4. Ajit Singh (Chandigarh, 3:00.12), 5. Sabu Ganiger (Karnataka, 3:02.03), 6. Yashvir Singh (ACCS, Ahmednagar, 3:02.3), 7. Pankaj Malresha (Sangli, 3:02.03), 8.

Dharmendra Singh (ACCS,Ahmednagar, 3: 02.03), 9. Sandip Malik (Indian Air Force, 3:02.03), 10. Subhash Dorle (Karnataka, 3:02.03).

King of Dive Ghat (4 km climb): Sabu Ganiger (10 mins, 02 secs).

Riders after the king: Sanghamesh Talawar (Kar, 10.38 mins), Laxman Terdal (10.39).

Jejuri Prime: 1. Laxman Terdal, 2. Sarabjeet Singh, 3. Ramesh Shengade (Krida Prabhodhini, Pune).

Surprise Prime (near Korhale-85 kms): 1. Sarabjeet Singh, 2. Laxman Terdal, 3. Ajit Singh.

Indian-made cycles: 1. Ram Jadhav (Sangli, 3:07.30), 2. Ranjit Shinde (Lonavala, 3:13.09), Sachin Shinde (Lonavala, 3:15.14).

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