The 24-hour ultra-endurance international bicycle race, ‘Race The Pearl’ is back with a collective of riders from the US, UK, Australia, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, India and Sri Lanka.
The Tour De France Stage Winner and Yellow Jersey Holder during 2013 Stages 2 and 3, Belgian Jan Bakelants, UCI Pro Race Winner Piotr Havik from the Netherlands, and Srinivas Gokulanathan who was the first Indian to complete Race Across America (RAAM), up the celebrity rider stakes in the race, which is now in its sixth edition.
There will also be female riders from India and Sri Lanka. Agnes Safford from the US, a finisher of RTC, will be riding for the fourth time this year.
An official qualifier for the globally renowned ultra-distance RAAM cycle race that covers 4,800 km in the US, Race The Pearl will have nearly 65 riders cycling from the northern tip of Point Pedro to the southern tip of Dondra Head in Sri Lanka. The 600 km route in Sri Lanka connects 100 cities and towns, as well as about 100,000 spectators along the route. It is one of the key high-octane ultra-distance road cycling races that RAAM organisers have selected to name as a qualifier. The race will be flagged off from Point Pedro in Jaffna at dawn on Saturday 28 October and finish at Dikwella 24 hours later, on 29 October.
