INDIA’S participation in Paris Brest Paris (PBP)
The first time India participated in PBP was in 2011, the 17th edition. 15 Super Randonneurs, 5 each from Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore, rode in Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur 2011. Two riders completed the route successfully within their respective times. Another rider completed the route outside of 90 hours. While this outcome was not up to expectations, it appears to be close to the norm for countries participating in PBP for the first time. The experience of participating in an event of that scale, 1200 Km in the French countryside, alongside over 5000 Randonneurs from around the world, was unmatched.
India put up a much better performance in PBP 2015, which saw 56 participants from all over India attempt the event with 20 Finishers! The National Representative at the time, Divya Tate, who had accompanied the group providing support at Loudeac was presented an award for overseeing the highest growth of Randonneuring at that time. Since then Randonneuring has grown even more in India.
In 2019, PBP saw 300 participants from India with great enthusiasm but unfortunately only 40 riders were able to finish within the allotted time limit. The dismal performance illuminated the need for the Indian Randonneur to train harder and prepare better for a challenging and hilly route like PBP.
In 2023, under the leadership of the new National Representative, Raghu Vishal, a lot of effort was made to better educate PBP aspirants of the challenges at PBP and how best to prepare for it with the help of YouTube videos & blogs on training & prep, online Q&A sessions etc. As a result, the Indian contingent had a lot more finishers with 126 out of 265 participants getting homologated for completing the event within their respective time limits.
In 2027, we expect the Indian contingent to grow further and perform much better with lessons learnt from past editions. We have a special awards section for all the finishers of previous editions of PBP linked below. We also encourage PBP aspirants to use the PBP resources page linked below for access to PBP related content - videos, blogs, spreadsheets and much more which will help you better prepare for the next edition of this grand randonnee.
USEFUL RESOURCES PBP Ancien