Schils Doltcini RT set for historic start at Pune Grand Tour
Far from the established circuits of European racing, the Pune Grand Tour signals India’s return to the UCI calendar - and offers Essex-based Schils Doltcini RT a chance to race on roads where the sport’s future is still being written.
Schils Doltcini RT will become what is thought to be the first British team to compete in a UCI road race in 2026 when they line up at India’s inaugural Bajaj Pune Grand Tour, a five-day UCI 2.2 stage race running from 19–23 January.
The significance reaches beyond a single start line. India – the world’s most populous nation – has not staged a UCI-ratified road race outside its national championships since 2013. When the peloton rolls away in Pune, it will mark the country’s return to the international road calendar after a 13-year absence.
Schils Doltcini RT will field a six-rider squad of Eugene and Archie Cross, Matt Ellmore, Carl Jolly, Stevan Kervadec and Charlie Lacaille, supported by Mike Cross (Directeur Sportif) alongside staff John Wood and Lucie Rodrigues. The line-up includes Archie Cross, winner of the Škoda Tour de Maurice in 2023, bringing recent stage-race pedigree to a race defined as much by terrain as by context.
The event opens with an 8km city-centre prologue through Pune’s Deccan Gymkhana district, before four road stages ranging from 87 to 134 kilometres across Baramati, Haveli and Purandar. Stage 2 is expected to be pivotal, featuring close to 1,500 metres of climbing through the Western Ghats, with exposed ascents and descents past Purandar Fort, Sinhagad and Khadakwasla Lake.
A full 171-rider peloton – drawn from 29 teams across 35 countries – will contest the race, including ProTeam Burgos-Burpellet-BH, alongside Continental, national and club teams from Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and the United States. The depth of the field underlines the scale of ambition behind the event’s first edition.
According to Global Peloton, India’s most prominent road racer of the past decade, Naveen John, believes the Pune Grand Tour could represent a genuine inflection point for the sport in the country.
“In the amount of visibility the race is getting, it’s not just state level or cycling circles,” John said. “For the first time an event in our sport is bursting outside of that bubble. Every sport has that pivotal moment — and hopefully this is it.”
India last hosted UCI events during the Tour de India series between 2011 and 2013 – a cluster of one-day races that briefly attracted names such as Elia Viviani and Robbie McEwen, before slipping from view. Those races struggled to connect with a wider public. The context in 2026, however, is markedly different.
Road cycling participation has grown rapidly across the country, with Pune now widely regarded as a domestic hub. The race is being organised by Pune’s local government with backing from the state of Maharashtra, with more than 500 kilometres of road resurfaced specifically for the event and over 3,000 volunteers mobilised.
“To witness a UCI 2.2 race attract a 171-rider peloton in its first year is unprecedented,” technical director Pinaki Bysack told Global Peloton. “For India, this is a momentous occasion.”
Based in Essex and managed by former professional Patrick Schils, Schils Doltcini RT has carved out a distinctive role, providing riders with opportunities to compete in UCI races across the world, often in regions beyond cycling’s traditional European strongholds.
For the team, the Pune Grand Tour offers more than winter miles and early-season form. It places a British outfit at the centre of a genuinely new chapter for international road racing – one shaped less by tradition, and more by possibility.
Schils Doltcini RT will become what is thought to be the first British team to compete in a UCI road race in 2026 when they line up at India’s inaugural Bajaj Pune Grand Tour, a five-day UCI 2.2 stage race running from 19–23 January.
The significance reaches beyond a single start line. India – the world’s most populous nation – has not staged a UCI-ratified road race outside its national championships since 2013. When the peloton rolls away in Pune, it will mark the country’s return to the international road calendar after a 13-year absence.
Schils Doltcini RT will field a six-rider squad of Eugene and Archie Cross, Matt Ellmore, Carl Jolly, Stevan Kervadec and Charlie Lacaille, supported by Mike Cross (Directeur Sportif) alongside staff John Wood and Lucie Rodrigues. The line-up includes Archie Cross, winner of the Škoda Tour de Maurice in 2023, bringing recent stage-race pedigree to a race defined as much by terrain as by context.
The event opens with an 8km city-centre prologue through Pune’s Deccan Gymkhana district, before four road stages ranging from 87 to 134 kilometres across Baramati, Haveli and Purandar. Stage 2 is expected to be pivotal, featuring close to 1,500 metres of climbing through the Western Ghats, with exposed ascents and descents past Purandar Fort, Sinhagad and Khadakwasla Lake.
A full 171-rider peloton – drawn from 29 teams across 35 countries – will contest the race, including ProTeam Burgos-Burpellet-BH, alongside Continental, national and club teams from Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and the United States. The depth of the field underlines the scale of ambition behind the event’s first edition.
According to Global Peloton, India’s most prominent road racer of the past decade, Naveen John, believes the Pune Grand Tour could represent a genuine inflection point for the sport in the country.
“In the amount of visibility the race is getting, it’s not just state level or cycling circles,” John said. “For the first time an event in our sport is bursting outside of that bubble. Every sport has that pivotal moment — and hopefully this is it.”
India last hosted UCI events during the Tour de India series between 2011 and 2013 – a cluster of one-day races that briefly attracted names such as Elia Viviani and Robbie McEwen, before slipping from view. Those races struggled to connect with a wider public. The context in 2026, however, is markedly different.
Road cycling participation has grown rapidly across the country, with Pune now widely regarded as a domestic hub. The race is being organised by Pune’s local government with backing from the state of Maharashtra, with more than 500 kilometres of road resurfaced specifically for the event and over 3,000 volunteers mobilised.
“To witness a UCI 2.2 race attract a 171-rider peloton in its first year is unprecedented,” technical director Pinaki Bysack told Global Peloton. “For India, this is a momentous occasion.”
Based in Essex and managed by former professional Patrick Schils, Schils Doltcini RT has carved out a distinctive role, providing riders with opportunities to compete in UCI races across the world, often in regions beyond cycling’s traditional European strongholds.
For the team, the Pune Grand Tour offers more than winter miles and early-season form. It places a British outfit at the centre of a genuinely new chapter for international road racing – one shaped less by tradition, and more by possibility.
Featured image: Mark James
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