Finding Pedal Power at L’Étape Mysuru

A cycling event in Mysuru became a journey of camaraderie, challenge and discovery, from royal streets to the steep roads of Chamundi Hills. In this first-person account, Aditya Mendonca rides beyond the finish line to capture the spirit of L’Étape Mysuru. 

A journey of a hundred miles, or in my case, 50 km, begins with putting your foot on a pedal. 

I was interested in the race when I heard a few months ago that the legendary L’étape was coming to Mysuru. Closer to the race, my friend Rajesh of racetime.in invited me to speak at a press conference about my experience running South Fire Sport since 2013. A few weeks later, a promotional ride around the city led to reconnecting with old cycling friends and making new buddies. The excitement was building up!

L’Étape du Tour de France (commonly known as L’Étape) was conceived in 1993 by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the same organisation behind the professional Tour de France. The very first L’Étape took place on July 11, 1993, with 1,700 riders tackling the arduous 208-kilometre mountain course from Tarbes to Pau. The route went through the legendary Col du Tourmalet pass. 

The primary vision was to allow amateur cyclists to experience the unparalleled thrill, pressure, and beauty of riding an authentic Tour de France mountain stage under the same conditions as the professionals—complete with fully closed roads, mechanical assistance, and official medical support. The inaugural race was brought to Mysuru by NEB Sports, Karnataka Tourism, and the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the official owners and organisers of the Tour de France. 

Why Mysuru Was Chosen

Mysuru was chosen as the historic first venue in India because of its perfect terrain and Infrastructure. Mysuru offers wide, well-maintained road conditions, scenic outskirts, and the ideal geography for a cycling challenge. 

The iconic Chamundi Hills ascent served as the official “King of the Mountain” (KOM) segment, replicating authentic Tour de France conditions and allowing amateur riders to compete for the coveted Polka Dot Jersey.

Also a big factor was the city’s rich royal heritage, association with sports, and iconic backdrop, with streets beautifully decorated for the famous Dasara festivities, quite suitable for the high-profile, global prestige of the L’Étape brand.

Chetan of Cadence 90 got me a slot to participate in the 50KM event. I had a few practice opportunities, but the maximum distance in peak Bangalore traffic was just 25 km. I needed company and called Samarth -The Caffeinated Athlete- who’s training for his first Ironman 70.3 in Goa in November.  He was initially reluctant, but he signed up along with some other friends, and I convinced my uncle Paneesh to join us.

The day before the event, I spent the night at KRS Zuari and decided to do a practice ride of one hour across the rolling state highway towards Brindavan Gardens. 

A fun history lesson here: When Sir Mirza Ismail (the Diwan of Mysore) and Sir M Visvesvaraya designed the KRS Dam and the adjoining Brindavan Gardens, they constructed a massive high-level irrigation canal (now known as the Visvesvaraya Canal) to supply water to the arid farmlands of the Mandya district. As part of this system, the canal passes through a deep underground tunnel at Hulikere (near Mandya/Srirangapatna). Completed in the early 1930s, this historic tunnel is celebrated as a major feat of British-era gravity engineering. 

We rode for about 15- 20 kms and my uncle, who hadn’t ridden for months, was exhausted. After a rejuvenating cold shower and rest, we drove to Mysuru for the pre-race briefing and to collect our bibs.

We reached the Chamundi Vihaar Stadium and got pretty cool goodie bags consisting of a black and yellow backpack, cap, water bottle, sunglasses, energy bars and a beautiful L’Étape Mysuru cycling jersey.

We also caught up with Cyclists Dr Arvind Bhateja, Vivek Bhateja his younger brother and Mohan from Spectrum Racing, along with other cyclists from around the country.

I joined Samarth, Harsha and Prashanth at the Airbnb we had booked. A quick trip to Chamundi Hills to pray for the upcoming day ahead; we went to bed early.

Race Sunday, Oct 4

It’s 4.30 am. Samarth wakes us up and whips espresso shots with his portable machine, getting us wired before we hit the venue. As he prepared his video content as a growing influencer.

We reach the parking lot, get our bikes, bib numbers, elaborate numbers on the handlebar, below the seat post, on the sides of our jersey (it hurts to put pins on the jersey and tear the fabric; I wonder when this will be done away with).

The Inaugural Event

There were nearly 1,500 cyclists from more than twelve Indian states and five countries, including the US, France, Australia, Mexico, and Sri Lanka. It was backed by Škoda Auto India as the title sponsor, bringing 130 years of its own European cycling heritage to Indian soil. The race featured four categories—ranging from a competitive 100 km race to a 1 km kids’ community ride.

Our route took us on a rolling start from the Chamundi Vihaar Stadium to the Mysuru Palace, where a royal flag-off made us feel that we were at  Le Tour De France and the Le Tape Series.  As we whizzed past on our bicycles, crowds on either side cheered us, along with VIPS on the dais, including the Maharaja of Mysuru, who is also a Member of Parliament, along with the super-fit Tejaswi Surya, Bangalore South MP. It was beautiful to see traffic-free roads,  and local Mysureans lined the streets, continuing to cheer us on. We followed the signature yellow branding through the old city, on Devarai Urs Road, past heritage buildings, past the Bangalore Ooty Highway, the Cat Museum, golf course,  police reserve training grounds, and The Windflower Resort, before the gradual climb up Chamundi Hills.

Along the route, cyclists were full of camaraderie, and we cheered each other on as we switched gears and got the right cadence. Nothing could stop us, we vowed, as once you get off your bicycle, getting back on is a task. 

Samarth had a flat tyre, and though I offered him my spare tube, he said no to it and carried on, which led to him being dropped from the 100km ride and having to participate in the 50km ride.  A 2-hour 30-minute cut-off made me gather all my thoughts, motivate myself with whatever it takes, and more. 

The thing that’s most interesting in cycling as a sport is that, through rolling terrain, for every hilly road that you take, there’s an equally fun descent waiting for you. I reached the top and was directed by the race team to take a left; Chamundi Hills has three roads that take you up and down. 

Then came the descent. Fast, winding and slightly terrifying. Tight corners, brakes on, eyes ahead and trying not to fly off the hill. I’ve never been so fast on my bicycle: 55 km/hr.

At the bottom, we had our first refuelling station, on the ring road. I spotted Chethan Ram’s car and team, who kept cheering me on and loaded me with bananas, water, electrolytes and more.

Mentally, it felt good to see familiar faces. The ring road was rolling terrain that got you going up and down and up, up, upwards, then a right on the Kozhikode Kollegal Highway past Lalitadripura, Chikkahalli towards Varuna Village lake, which was super dry; I did not recognise it, then a U-turn that felt much faster on me. Along the way, we could see some cyclists stopping at shops to buy cold beverages to cool them down. I told myself, ‘Keep going. You have to make it back towards the finish line in time and finish the race.’ I was so glad to see volunteers handing out water bottles to drink and cool off; I poured some on my head through my helmet,  it was so refreshing, then rode through Alanahalli, Walkers Park, Sangolli Rayanna Circle, Karanji Lake, into Nazarbad, ending two kms away from the stadium near the police station and made my way back into the city.

And on the last leg of my race, I spotted my new friend Samuel, who works at Ultraviollete, the EV bike brand – and encouraged him to pedal as fast as possible so we could be a 1-2. Between the two of us.

I stuck to three breakaway smaller groups of riders from the 100k pack, spotted a few friends and pushed myself like never before across the finish line, sprinting in my category. I rode across the finish line, elated, happy and glad to have started the birthday month with a fun event.

What made it even better were the crowds cheering, police protection and volunteers along the route, with the streets getting ready for Dasara.

There were three events that day in which friends in the fitness community at South Fire Sport were participating: The BMF Triathlon and the Air Force Run in Bengaluru. I cheered them all mentally while I and others in the SouthFire fraternity enjoyed ourselves 140 km away at Mysuru, which is now on the global cycling map. 

Hosted by Skoda India, Le Tour de France, NEB Sports; take a bow to the teams, organisers, sponsors, police, and more, and enjoy the royal city of Karnataka.

Hello, October. ☀️🚲