It is the Li Ning Star team celebrating at the end of the first stage of the Bajaj Pune Grand Tour. Presenting themselves at the start of the short Indian stage race with only five riders, the Chinese Continental team immediately managed to make their mark thanks to Luke Mudgway, who, joining his teammates Cristian Raileanu and Nils Sinschek in the group that broke away in the last fifty of the 87 kilometers scheduled for today, won the sprint at the Haveli finish line ahead of Belgian Arne Santy (Tartelletto-Isorex) and Greek Georgios Bouglas (Burgos Burpellet BH).

For him, this is the sixth personal victory in his career (all in .2 races except for the third stage of the Tour of China II in 2016), and he also took the leadership in the general classification. Thanks to the limited time gap (8 seconds) from yesterday's prologue and the bonus seconds won today, he jumped to the top, dethroning Fergus Browning (Terengganu Cycling Team), who arrived behind the group that contested the race.

THE RACE REPORT

The stage, neutralized for several minutes after a few kilometers due to a bad group crash that forced several riders to seek medical assistance, had its turning point on the slopes of the first mountain grand prix of the day, where Clement Alleno, Jambaljamts Sainbayar (Burgos Burpellet BH) and Yorben Lauryssen (Tartelletto-Isorex) broke away.

They were joined by African champion Merhawi Kudus and Georgios Bouglas (Burgos Burpellet BH), Carter Bettles (Roojai Insurance Winspace), Cristian Raileanu, Luke Mudgway and Nils Sinschek (Li Ning Star), Andreas Miltiadis (Quick Pro Team), Juan Pedro Lozano (Terengganu Cycling Team), Arne Santy (Tartelletto-Isorex) and Tamar Spiero (Wielerploeg Groot Amsterdam) in the subsequent technical descent. The three formed a compact leading group that, cooperating, quickly gained over a minute's margin from the yellow jersey group of Browning.

After crossing the 2nd mountain grand prix (won by Lauryssen), the advantage increased further due to the few forces and poor cohesion behind the leading group. They quickly approached the last climb of the day. Here, 22 kilometers from the finish, Sainbayar attacked but, after securing the available points at the top, was soon caught by the other riders in the first group, where the previously seen collaboration suddenly disappeared.

From the last intermediate sprint (1st Sainbayar) before the finish line, various attacks followed in the next kilometers, but despite great generosity, no one managed to make a difference.

The stage was decided in the sprint where, narrowly avoiding an incident with a moving car in the last 500 meters, Luke Mudgway used his best sprint to take his first personal victory in three years (his last success was in the fourth stage of the New Zealand Cycle Classic 2023) and, simultaneously, the yellow jersey as race leader with 4 seconds over Miltiadis and 7 seconds over Lauryssen.

As a final note on a stage that did not fail to provide thrills multiple times, a Malaysian rider crashed after the finish line. Having arrived in the main group with several minutes behind the leaders, he fell due to the finish line, which was poorly glued to the asphalt and came off, throwing him from his bike - an incident that, with many other athletes around him, could have had much more serious consequences.

FINISH ORDER

1st Luke Mudgway (NZL/Li Ning Star)

2nd Arne Santy (BEL/Tartelletto-Isorex)

3rd Georgios Bouglas (GRE/Burgos Burpellet BH)

4th Yorben Lauryssen (BEL/Tartelletto-Isorex)

5th Merhawi Kudus (ERI/Burgos Burpellet BH)

6th Tamar Spiero (NED/Wielerploeg Groot Amsterdam)

7th Juan Pedro Lozano (ESP/Terengganu Cycling Team)

8th Clement Alleno (FRA/Burgos Burpellet BH)

9th Carter Bettles (AUS/Roojai Insurance Winspace)

10th Andreas Miltiadis (CIP/Quick Pro Team)

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1st Luke Mudgway (NZL/Li Ning Star) 2:23:23

2nd Andreas Miltiadis (CIP/Quick Pro Team) +4"

3rd Yorben Lauryssen (BEL/Tartelletto-Isorex) +7"

4th Nils Sinschek (NED/Li Ning Star) +8"

5th Carter Bettles (AUS/Roojai Insurance Winspace) +11"

6th Juan Pedro Lozano (ESP/Terengganu Cycling Team) +21"

7th Clement Alleno (FRA/Burgos Burpellet BH) +22"

8th Georgios Bouglas (GRE/Burgos Burpellet BH) +22"

9th Arne Santy (BEL/Tartelletto-Isorex) +25"

10th Cristian Raileanu (MDA/Li Ning Star) +28"