When the Track Asian Cup 2025 rolls into Suphanburi, Thailand (August 28–30, 2025), the event will mean more to India than just another outing on the calendar.
Classified as a UCI Class 1 (CL1) competition, the Asian Cup is a vital staging post for developing nations: a place to gather ranking points, test international competitiveness, and measure progress against Asia’s traditional cycling giants. For India, whose riders are beginning to set continental benchmarks, this is both a proving ground and a statement opportunity. A CL1 event sits just below the UCI World Cups and World Championships in significance. Ranking points earned here determine whether riders can qualify for elite global competitions.
For Indian cyclists, the Asian Cup is thus not a side show it is an essential qualification marker and a rare chance to line up against Asia’s best outside of major championships.
The event covers a full range of disciplines Individual Pursuit, Keirin, Team Sprint, Omnium across elite and junior categories. With Olympic qualification systems becoming increasingly points-based, every result in Suphanburi will matter.
The Senior Men’s Core – Ronaldo Laitonjam Leads the Charge
The face of Indian track cycling remains Ronaldo Laitonjam, once the world’s top junior sprinter and now the senior team’s spearhead. His silver medal at the 2023 Asian Cycling Championships in the 1km time trial, with a national-record 1:00.863, signaled his transition to elite levels. Though the 1km is not an Olympic discipline, his speed and endurance make him central to India’s sprint ambitions. Equally important is the men’s team sprint squad, featuring Laitonjam, David Beckham Elkatohchoongo, and Rojit Singh Yanglem. In March 2025, they broke the Indian national record with 44.187 seconds at the Nations Cup.
That time is just a fraction behind the 44.00s standard used by USA Cycling to select its own World Championship teams proof that India’s sprint trio is closing in on world-class benchmarks. For the Asian Cup, the challenge is consistency. To convert record times into medals, the Indian team must perform not just once but across rounds under pressure—an area where Japan and Korea have historically dominated.
A Rising Star Harshita Jakhar
If Laitonjam embodies India’s present, Harshita Jakhar represents its future. The junior sensation stunned at the 2024 Asian Championships, winning silver in the individual pursuit and bronze in the Madison, alongside other medals. At home, she dominated the 2025 Khelo India Youth Games with a golden hat-trick in the 500m time trial, 7.5km scratch race, and 2km pursuit. Jakhar is part of the Sports Authority of India’s Target Asian Games Group and trains at a National Centre of Excellence. This institutional backing signals a clear pathway for her progression into senior ranks.
For her, the Asian Cup is a step up a test of whether junior dominance can translate against seasoned elites. With her stated goal of an Asian Games medal by 2030, this competition is an early checkpoint.
Depth Across the Squad
Beyond the headline names, India’s track cycling has begun to show breadth:
- Dinesh Kumar set a new national record in the 4000m individual pursuit (4:26.331).
- Keerthi Rangaswamy posted a national best in the 1km women’s time trial (1:09.666).
- The junior women’s team sprint unit : Sarita Kumari, Niya Sebastian, Zaina Mohammed Ali Pirkhan, and Sabina Kumari won gold at the 2024 Asian Championships, another marker of grassroots strength.
- Veterans like Naveen John and Saurabh Singh remain important contributors in endurance events.
This growing depth matters. For decades, India relied on isolated talents. Today, it fields competitive riders across multiple disciplines, a sign of structural progress.
The progress is not accidental. Under the Cycling Federation of India (CFI), led by President Pankaj Singh and Secretary General Maninder Pal Singh, the sport has professionalized. A key initiative is the CFI–Manav Rachna partnership, which established a cycling academy offering UCI Level 1–3 coaching certifications and formal diplomas in Cycling Coaching & Sports Sciences. Such institutional efforts are already showing results: India’s 18 medals at the 2024 Asian Championships (9 gold, 6 silver, 3 bronze) were historic. Crucially, Para-cyclists accounted for 12 of these medals, underscoring the federation’s broad-based development approach.
Grassroots pipelines are producing juniors, para-athletes, and seniors simultaneously a rare balance in Indian sport.
India’s rise comes against the backdrop of Asian dominance by Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong, nations that consistently lead continental rankings. Japan, in particular, sets the benchmark in sprint events, while Korea excels in endurance. The Asian Cup will be a direct test of how close India has come to narrowing these gaps. With times like 44.187 in team sprint, India is on the cusp. The question is whether these performances can be replicated consistently on foreign tracks under championship conditions.
The Track Asian Cup 2025 is more than just another competition for Indian cycling it is a barometer of progress. With Laitonjam chasing sprint medals, Jakhar testing herself in elite company, and new record-holders pushing boundaries, India has realistic hopes of podium finishes. Yet, medals alone won’t define success. Equally important will be the accumulation of UCI points, the ability to sustain performance under pressure, and the validation of India’s new developmental structures.
What is certain is this: Indian cycling is no longer an afterthought in Asia. The Track Asian Cup offers the perfect stage to prove that the country can not only compete but also contend.
Indian Squad for the Competition
- Esow
- Ronaldo Singh Laitonjam
- Harshita Jakhar
- Aditya Jakhar
- Siddhesh Sarjerao Ghorpade
- Prithvi Raj Singh
Chief Coach : Kevin Rene Michel Sireau
Coach : Rakesh Kumar
