It was definitely an Australian-tinted prologue that opened the first historic edition of the Bajaj Pune Grand Tour.

With a time of 8:05, Fergus Browning covered the 7.5 kilometers of the inaugural stage of the short Indian stage race, conquering his second elite victory by just one second over his compatriot Dylan Hopkins (Roojai Insurance Winspace).

Behind them, on the top step of the podium with a three-second gap from the day's winner, finished the six-time Cypriot road champion Andreas Miltiadis (Quick Pro), the first European in a finishing order where the Australian predominance was confirmed by the placements of Kane Richards and Carter Bettles (both from Roojai Insurance Winspace), who finished eighth and ninth respectively.

For Browning, a 22-year-old from Yarraville signed this year by the Terengganu Cycling Team after a 2025 spent between the Australian Continental team CCACHE x BODYWRAP and Hagens Berman Jayco, this naturally also brought the first yellow jersey as race leader, with tomorrow's stage being the 87.2km Mulshi-Haveli line stage.