World Bicycle Day 2026 celebrated with large-scale cycling rides
Hyderabad, June 6: The 9th edition of the World Bicycle Day Mega Cycling Events will be held on Sunday, 7 June 2026, being jointly organised by SmartBike Mobility Pvt. Ltd., India’s largest Public Bike Sharing company, and the Hyderabad Bicycling Club (HBC), the world’s largest cycling club online, in association with World Cycling Alliance Brussels.
For the first time, the celebrations will be conducted simultaneously in Hyderabad, Chandigarh and New Delhi, in association with the World Cycling Alliance (Brussels), Sports Authority of India and FIT India. More than 5,000 cycling enthusiasts from fitness communities, corporates, educational institutions, families and the general public are expected to participate across the three cities.
The World Bicycle Day celebrations in India commenced in New Delhi in June 2018, coinciding with the United Nations’ inaugural global observance of World Bicycle Day. Over the years, the event has evolved into one of the country’s largest cycling celebrations, and the 2026 edition marks its most expansive chapter yet, celebrating cycling as a healthy, sustainable and inclusive way of life.
Mr D.V. Manohar, Chairman, Hyderabad Bicycling Club & First Vice President, World Cycling Alliance, Brussels, said on the occasion, Declaring a day exclusively for bicycling required sustained efforts on our part on behalf of the World Cycling Alliance, Brussels, and the European Cyclists’ Federation, Brussels. The day was finally declared in 2018, and we organised the very first event in New Delhi, where Shri Venkaiah Naidu, then Vice President of India, flagged off a massive cycling rally of around 5,000 cyclists, the largest cycling event in New Delhi at the time. Since then, we have organised the celebrations in different cities: last year in Chandigarh, the year before in Chennai, and the year before that in Hyderabad. This year, the event will be held in three cities. The largest ride will take place in Hyderabad with 2,500 cyclists, Chandigarh will host 2000 cyclists, and in New Delhi, around 5,000 cyclists will participate in association with the Sports Authority of India on Sunday, 7 June.
Hyderabad Edition:
The Hyderabad event will be flagged off from the SmartBike Hub at Narsingi on the iconic Outer Ring Road (ORR) Cycling Track. Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Former Vice President of India, will grace the occasion as the Chief Guest and flag off the ride.
More than 2,500 cyclists are expected to participate in the 5 km and 10 km ride categories.
The occasion holds special significance, as Shri Venkaiah Naidu as the then Vice President of India inaugurated and flagged off the very first World Bicycle Day celebration in New Delhi in June 2018.
Chandigarh Edition:
The Chandigarh event will be held at the historic Government Museum and Art Gallery, with Shri H. Rajesh Prasad, IAS, Chief Secretary, Union Territory of Chandigarh, attending as the Chief Guest and Flagging off the Ride.
More than 2,000 cyclists are expected to participate in the 5 km and 10 km rides.
Chandigarh occupies a special place in SmartBike’s journey. Its Public Bike Sharing system, comprising 5,000 SmartBikes across 617 stations, including a large fleet of Electric SmartBikes introduced voluntarily, received the First Prize in the Mobility and E-Governance category among India’s 100 Smart Cities from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India which was presented by the Hon’ble President of India.
New Delhi Edition:
The New Delhi celebrations will be held at the iconic Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in collaboration with the Sports Authority of India, MyBharat and the Ministry of Ayush.
The Chief Guests for the Delhi edition will be renowned actor and cycling advocate Shri Vikrant Massey and the Hon’ble Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya.
SmartBike’s National Contribution
Mr D.V. Manohar said, SmartBike’s efforts towards promoting cycling and sustainable mobility have received recognition at the highest levels of government.
In early 2023, SmartBike was selected by Startup India as one of only a dozen startups from across the country to directly interact with and present policy recommendations to the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi.
SmartBike MD Dharmin’s policy recommendations included National Cycling Policy, Dedicated Cycling Tracks, Car Free Zones, Carbon Trading Exchange etc. Link for the same is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oWoJnsdRGTOICvD2uwnYAko4X8-XdxnV/view
Thereafter, as advised by Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Sports, SmartBike Chairman Mr. D V Manohar has drafted the National Cycling Policy for India, a comprehensive roadmap aimed at integrating cycling into the country’s urban mobility framework and submitted the same to the Government of India.
The draft National Cycling Policy document will be unveiled and shared publicly for the first time during the World Bicycle Day 2026 press conference at Hyderabad.