‘Red Bull Tlang Ruam’: Teen from Darj to represent India

Amitava Banerjee, MP, 21 Oct 2024, Darjeeling: A 19-year-old from Darjeeling has joined the prestigious league of 25 from all over the world to participate in the first-ever Urban Downhill Mountain Biking championship in Southeast Asia. He is the only participant from India. 

The event “Red Bull Tlang Ruam” will be held in Aizawl, Mizoram from October 23 to 26.Urban Downhill Mountain Biking is an extreme adventure sport combining downhill mountain biking with the challenge of tight spaces of a city and requires great skill and precision. 

“Only 25 participants have been invited to showcase their talents to a global audience in this championship. This is the first of its kind championship in South East Asia,” stated Alphonse Rai, West Bengal Mountain Biking Coach. 

The event will also feature mentorship sessions by mountain biking greats, including Tomas Slavik from Czech Republic; Pedro Burns from Chile and Jeronimo Paez from Argentina on October 24 and 25. Out of the 25 competitors, the qualifiers will take part in the main race on October 26. 

“The winners will get an opportunity to compete at the prestigious Red Bull Cerro Abajo event in South America,” added Rai. It has not been an easy ride for 19-year-old Rohan Thapa. “Many do not know about the sport and find it weird when I cycle down staircases. I was even caught by the police when I was practising down a slope in Chowrasta. 

Later they let me go when I explained about the sport and that I was practicing for championships,” stated Thapa. Thapa has been professionally mountain biking for the last two years and has also taken part in the national championship in 2023. A resident of Ghoom, Thapa has been practising hard. 

“I want to qualify for the South American championship and ‘am practising hard. I usually practise in Darjeeling and also in Ghoom,” stated Thapa. Satthi-Siri (a popular steep staircase in Darjeeling town having 60 steps), staircase beside St. Robert’s school, the steep pathways of Jalapahar and the steep road beside Darjeeling’s telephone exchange are now Thapa’s practise tracts. 

The sport took off in the early 2000s with the Red Bull Lisbon Downtown race. This started a craze and a growth of urban race along with a race series, came up across the world. The best-known urban races are those in Central and South America, including races in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Colombia. Of these, the most well-known is Red Bull Valparaíso Cerro Abajo in the port city of Valparaíso, Chile. 

Courtesy & source- Millennium Post 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/red-bull-tlang-ruam-teen-from-darj-to-represent-india-583842