Two of the 21 cyclists in the international category of the upcoming MTB (Mountain Bike) Kerala are women, thus invalidating gender-based divisions prevalent in the world of sports, especially in adventure events.
Naima Madlen Diesner of Germany and Laxmi Magar of Nepal will bike along with 19 men on Sunday when MTB’s most-awaited segment unveils down a 4.8-km stretch around the Priyadarshini Tea Environs near Mananthavady in Wayanad.
MTB, billed as India’s pioneering event under the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), which is the apex organisation for cycling bodies the world over, has its 6th edition being organised by the Department of Tourism in association with the Kerala Adventure Tourism Promotion Society (KATPS), District Tourism Promotion Council, and the Cycling Federation of India (CFI).
Naima, 29, had emerged the runner-up at the Tour of Arava in Israel, the elite category of the women-only event in West Asia, in March this year, by covering the 68-km track in 2:10.35 hours. A doctor by profession, her favourite items in cycling are MTB and road race.
As for the 31-year-old Laxmi, she is a three-time MTB champion touted as the first Nepalese cyclist of international repute. Ms. Laxmi had earlier this month clinched gold at the South Asian Games in Kathmandu by finishing first in cross-country cycling.
Laxmi came 10th in the elite category of cycling in last year’s Asian Games in Jakarta and 9th in the Incheon Asian Games of 2014. In 2015, she was
crowned ‘India’s Trans-Himalayan Queen of the Mountain’ after winning the
Manali-Khardungla Cycling Championship. This is the first time MTB Kerala is holding its international category event without gender barriers, after getting UCI’s permission, said KATPS chief executive officer Manesh Bhaskar.
“The earlier five editions had only men participating in the elite segment,” he added.
