Punmiya to cycle from New Delhi to Mumbai in 30 hours

New Delhi: Striving to cover the distance between New Delhi and Mumbai in a record 30 hours, 52-year-old cyclist Vinod Punamiya will set off on his path-breaking 1485km ride from the India Gate here on Friday.

Selected for the World Cycling Championship in Rome, Punamiya had defeated the legendary Deccan Queen train on the Pune-Mumbai route by reaching the destination 20 minutes before the train.Traveling through Jaipur, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Himmatnagar, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Vapi Punamiya is scheduled to reach the Gateway of India in Mumbai at 1300hrs on February 20. There he will be received by Maharashtra chief minister Pritviraj Chavan. Punamiya has to his credit a whole lot of awards and accolades for his accomplishments in cycling. He had won the prestigious Mumbai-Pune Race, the First Triathlon, and the National Cycling Championship.Sports minister Ajay Makan today met the cyclist and wished him luck ahead of journey. PTI