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Riders passing through the Pune City during Stage 4 of Bajaj Pune Grand Tour 2026 (PGT)
“Hahahaha, we are all crossdressers, and like to stay cool,” guffaws a senior support staff of a Spanish cycling team, as he pulls out a wad of women’s stockings.
Pre-race team tents at cycling’s Pune Grand Tour, see hectic activity with mechanics fussing over bikes with fancy tool kits. But sport’s typical improvisations and last-minute hacks are unavoidable, and teams travel with paraphernalia which is straight out of a novelty shop: women’s stockings, thin ankle socks and safety pins.
There’s also kitchen funnels and zealously guarded tags with riding symbology for maps that crunch race strategy into a 1 inch X 4 inch sticker. But first, the rolls of women’s beige stockings. Massive plastic carry bags deliver ice cubes to each of the 30 team tents. This ice is then chucked into the stockings and fashioned into ice bags that are dunked into the back of the jersey, below the neck, for typically hot racing days.
“It keeps the cyclists cool and women’s stockings are best suited for their material because the ice stays intact but they are porous enough,” explains the Spaniard.
Chinese Team Li Ning Star, a super regimented outfit, uses womens ballet socks, for the same. While Indians tend to simply chuck ice into their jersey backs.
Day 1 also saw a scramble among volunteers to furnish enough safety pins to all teams. Because cyclists go at 70 kph in open, windy terrains, the jersey number bibs can literally flutter away and both bibs on the back need at least 20 safety pins to hold them tight. Pro Cycling jerseys, even if snug, have two pockets on the back which at various times hold energy bars, fluid replenishment, mobile phones and even love letters in French or Flemish for motivation. Some just carry a banana for an energy top-up on the go. The safety pins on the bibs hold it all together.
Bartender’s skills, chemist’s accuracy
Physios carry power-packs of fuel, combining a bartender’s mixology skills with a chemist’s accuracy and a chef’s gastronomy experiments. The measuring kitchen funnel sees concoctions of fruit juice, water, electrolytes going into team water bottles. Carbs in gel form (like pepsi cola in plastic tubes) is sucked on for insta energy. No Diet Coke fixes to satiate taste buds. Once in racing mode, riders actually dig Colas for their sugar and caffeine.
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For a group obsessed with Body Fat percentages in off season, their race-day needs tend to be carbs and sugar-intensive. Buzz is building around the New Zealand military-researched chewing gums that keep them alert and fuelled among cyclists, and at least two European teams hinted they leant on similar molecular power packets.
Strat tags
The handlebar carries a small sticker tag with assorted symbols and numbers. On a tough day like Stage 2 at Pune, with steep ascents, there are hills and sprint stages marked with distances from the start. The cycle meters display the route covered, but it’s the team directors who leave a tiny number indicators of strategy and when to attack in the mountains and how far the peaks are. The sticker also carries “feeding distances” — precise distances where cyclists may fuel up, to tally with the bike metre.
The shiny bikes are of course the cynosures, but assorted novelties make up race day kits.
Shivani Naik is a senior sports journalist and Assistant Editor at The Indian Express. She is widely considered one of the leading voices in Indian Olympic sports journalism, particularly known for her deep expertise in badminton, wrestling, and basketball. Professional Profile Role: Assistant Editor and Columnist at The Indian Express. Specialization: While she covers a variety of sports, she is the primary authority on badminton for the publication. She also writes extensively about tennis, track and field, wrestling, and gymnastics. Writing Style: Her work is characterized by "technical storytelling"—breaking down the biomechanics, tactics, and psychological grit of athletes. She often provides "long reads" that explore the personal journeys of athletes beyond the podium. Key Topics & Recent Coverage (Late 2025) Shivani Naik’s recent articles (as of December 2025) focus on the evolving landscape of Indian sports as athletes prepare for the 2026 Asian Games and beyond: Indian Badminton's "Hulks": She has recently written about a new generation of Indian shuttlers characterized by power and physicality, such as Ayush Shetty and Sathish Karunakaran, marking a shift from the traditionally finesse-based Indian style. PV Sindhu’s Resurgence: A significant portion of her late-2025 work tracks PV Sindhu’s tactical shifts under new coaching, focusing on her "sparkle" and technical tweaks to break out of career slumps. The "Group of Death": In December 2025, she provided detailed tactical previews for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s campaign in the BWF World Tour Finals. Tactical Deep Dives: She frequently explores technical trends, such as the rise of "backhand deception" in modern badminton and the importance of court drift management in international arenas. Legacy and History: She often revisits the careers of legends like Saina Nehwal and Syed Modi, providing historical context to current Indian successes. Notable Recent Articles BWF World Tour Finals: Satwik-Chirag have it all to do to get through proverbial Group of Death. (Dec 2025) The age of Hulks in Indian badminton is here. (Dec 2025) Treadmill, Yoganidra and building endurance: The themes that defined the resurgence of Gayatri and Treesa. (Dec 2025) Ayush Shetty beats Kodai Naraoka: Will 20-year-old be the headline act in 2026? (Nov 2025) Modern Cinderella tale – featuring An Se-young and a shoe that fits snugly. (Nov 2025) Other Sports Interests Beyond the court, Shivani is a passionate follower of South African cricket, sometimes writing emotional columns about her irrational support for the Proteas, which started because of love for Graeme Smith's dour and doughty Test playing style despite being a left-hander, and sustained over curiosity over their heartbreaking habit of losing ICC knockouts. You can follow her detailed analysis and columns on her official Indian Express profile page. ... Read More
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