Network 18 to hold BSA Hercules Cyclothon Bengaluru 2009
14 Aug 2009
The 'BSA Hercules Cyclothon Bengaluru 09' will be organised by Sport18, the sports marketing division of Network18.
To be held on 11 October, the event is being dubbed as the first ever mass mobilising cycling event in the country. Sport18 has also partnered with the Cycling Federation of India, the national governing body of cycle racing in India, for this annual event.
The event will have a tag line of 'One day without oil', to promote cycling among people travelling short distances. The registrations for the event begin 4 August and around 5,000-6,000 people are expected to participate in the race, which will also have 300-400 cycling professionals participating. The 50km race will be conducted on the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor, also known as NICE Corridor.
The event will be managed by Spectrum Consultants, while it will be held under aegis of the Cycling Federation of India. Sport 18 also plans to hold Cyclothons in Mumbai and Delhi in 2010.
The Youth and Sports Council in Bangalore will also be a partner in this event. The Times of India is the print partner for this event.
Elaborating on the event and the message being conveyed, Satish Menon, CEO, Sport18, said, ''Cycling as a sport is catching up in India and the number of cycles and cycling clubs are increasingly on the rise. I believe that cycling as a sport is easy to adopt for the youth and can be used as the best mode of transport for short distance travel.''
Menon further said, ''Cycling events are being held in India in small parts, but like any other sport, unless you do a 'mother of all events', the sport will not really blast through the horizon, and that's exactly what we are going to do.''
Sport18 plans to undertake a 360-degree campaign, and besides mainline advertising, on-ground activities will also play a big role in the promotion of the 'Cyclothon'. A lot of BTL activities like road shows, meeting the HR heads of various companies, and mall activities will be part of its promotional plans.