Incredible ! Patiala cyclist Kanwar Gill completes Paris Brest cycling event in 84 hours
Punjab brings laurels in Paris Brest cycling event: It is like a dream come true for the city based cyclist from Patiala Kanwar Gill who completed the most iconic and oldest Paris Brest Ride cycling event in 84 hours.
Notably, the Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP), which dates to 1891 and is regarded as the oldest cycling event in the world, is a gruelling 1,200-km race that takes participants from Paris to the Atlantic coast and back. The event is also referred to by many as the ‘Olympics of ultra-cycling’ and happens once every four years.
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What makes the Paris-Brest-Paris so challenging is that the riders have to be self-sufficient throughout and finish the race within 90 hours. This means riders must arrange for supplies themselves and will only have time to take a few short naps on the route. In ultra-distance cycling, the events are not split into stages and the clock ticks from start to finish.
To qualify for the PBP, one has to complete a series of randonneuring events first, which can range from 200 to 600 km. However, Patiala youth Kanwar Gill scripted Punjab by breaking records in Paris-Brest-Paris cycling event.
Kanwar Gill concluded his schooling from The Punjab Public School, Nabha by passing ICSE in the year 1996 and ISC in the year 1998. During his school time, he participated in various cross-countries and athletic meets and was adjudged the Best Athlete in the year 1996-1998. He was also declared the Best Boxer in the year 1997. Apart from Athletics and Boxing, Kanwar Gurpreet also participated and achieved various distinctions and awards in various sporting events.
After a gap of 19 years at the age of 37, Kanwar Gurpreet Singh took a second stint at his sporting career when he started cycling in the year 2017. Kanwar has completed 130 Audax rides till date and have successfully completed 29 Super Randonnée’s (SR). One Super Randonnée consist of rides of 200 KM, 300 KM, 400 KM and 600 KM which is to be completed in a single year. In the 2019 Kanwar completed 9 SR’s in a single year and to achieve this feet, he completed 4 SR in five days (one on Tandem bike)
There are only 2 riders in the entire country who have successfully completed 25 or more than 25 SR’s and Kanwar is one of them.
Recently, Kanwar also completed C2C ( Capital to Capital ) Delhi to Kathmandu on Tandem , First ever cross country Ride of India on Tandem & G2G ( India gate Delhi to Gate way of India Mumbai on Tandem with Grinshina & 5 Days SR on Tandem with her ( First time in In Audax History )
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The grit and dedication of Kanwar is evident from the fact that he met with an accident at 170 Km milestone of 600 KM Bravet, despite his injuries he went on to complete the Bravet. To add to this, in the same week he completed 200, 300 KM Bravets at Gwalior and 21 KM Half Marathon at Delhi. He has also distinction of completing 200 KM Bravet with a fractured arm with a string around his neck.
- PTC NEWS
