Burgos Burpellet BH will begin its ninth season in the UCI ProTeam category next week and will do so in a country in which it had never competed. India will begin the 2026 campaign with the Pune Grand Tour, a new stage race that debuts in the 2.2 UCI category and in which the purple ones hope to be the protagonists. A prologue and four online stages make up a route that alternates flat and medium-mountain days between January 19 and 23. It will be the first contact this year for six of the purple cyclists, including the neo-professional Adrián Fajardo or the new African champion, Merhawi Kudus.
Although the 2026 season started for Burgos Burpellet BH with the victory of the Eritrean Kudus in the African Championship, the team will start rolling collectively this coming Monday at the Pune Grand Tour. What is the only professional race in India is held around Pune, the seventh most populated city in the country, located in the western area, in the state of Maharashtra. The first leader’s jersey will be awarded after a short prologue of eight kilometers through the streets of this city. An effort for specialists in the fight against the clock, since it will take place through long and wide avenues.
The first online day will connect Mulshi and Haveli on a route of only 87 kilometers that could be resolved with a massive sprint, as long as the sprinters overcome the three small scoring points along the way. On Wednesday the race will leave Pune again, in what will be the most hilly stage of the race. The second-class passes of Yewalewadi (4 km at 7%) and Kondhanpur (2 km at 10%) could break the pack of favorites. This last climb will be crowned just 17 kilometers from the end, giving way to a quick descent to the town of Maval.
The penultimate stage will be the longest of the race, with 134 kilometers between Purander and Baramati. The initial part will be the most demanding, with two climbs in a row, but the rest of the day has a flat profile, offering a new opportunity to fast men. The peloton will return to Pune on Friday in the fifth and final stage, 95 kilometers. It will be the flattest of the four days in a row, so a new sprint finish is expected on the streets of Pimpri-Chinchwad. In addition, the bonuses for the intermediate sprints will play a decisive role in the fight for the general classification.
Six cyclists from Burgos Burpellet BH will travel to India to debut in this Pune Grand Tour, which is why they have not been able to participate with the rest of their teammates in the concentration that is taking place these days in Benalmádena. Merhawi Kudus will be one of the men to watch in the mountains, debuting his African champion title, while Jambaljamts Sainbayar, Clément Alleno and Alex Mayer will contribute their speed in mass finishes and their versatility in the terrain for climbers. Georgios Bouglas will be the purple sprinter in the volatas and Adrián Fajardo will take his first pedal strokes as a professional cyclist, in an event of great learning for the Albacete native.
Pune Grand Tour (2.2 UCI / India) (Monday, January 19 – Friday, January 23)
Cyclists: Alexandre Mayer, Jambaljamts Sainbayar, Adrián Fajardo, Merhawi Kudus, Georgios Bouglas, Clément Alleno
Sports director: Jetse Bol
