MAM
Hercules to sponsor India’s first mountain biking race
MUMBAI: Hercules which manufactures Mountain Terrain Bikes in India will be the title sponsor for India’s first mountain biking race.
The event will will be held in Himachal Pradesh from 6-14 October 2005. Over 60 top international and Indian riders will compete against each other and nature for the Hercules MTB Himachal champion title.
The event is being marketed and promoted worldwide by IMG/TWI. IMG/TWI will produce broadcast this event on Trans World Sport reaching 260 million households over 131 countries worldwide. IMG/TWI will also broadcast this event via SNTV. In India, the event will air on Ten Sports.
Hercules MTB Himachal has been conceptualised and organised by Himalayan Adventure Sports and Tourism Promotion Association (Hastpa). The organization works towards sustainable tourism development in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Hastpa is organising the race under the aegis of the International Mountain Bicycling Association and the event is supported by the Department of Tourism, Government of Himachal Pradesh.
IMG/TWI South Asia MD Ravi Krishnan said, “We are proud to be associated with India’s first ever mountain biking race. The Hercules MTB Himachal challenge will be responsible for heralding a new era in this popular sport that is growing by leaps and bounds worldwide. We are thankful to Hercules for their support to the event. I am certain that their association with the event will take it to great heights.”
Races will be held in the following categories – Men, Women, Masters, and Teams. After the final stage, times will be calculated to determine the Hercules MTB Himachal champion. Over the next few years the Hercules MTB Himachal race aspires to evolve to the stature of the Trans Alps Challenge held in Europe and the Trans Rockies Challenge in Canada.
The Hercules MTB Himachal is a mountain cycling adventure and an endurance race. Starting from Shimla, tomorrow 6 October, over 60 amateur and pro riders are estimated to grind their way back and forth over the beautiful landscape while bouncing, grunting and pedaling through 480 kilometers of wilderness trails. It will be a test of physical endurance and mental determination for mountain cycling enthusiasts from India and abroad. The event passes through the venue of the celebrations of the famous Kullu Dusshera and the prize distribution will be held on October 14 in Manali at the Mountaineering Institute auditorium. Honourable Chief Minister Raja Virbhadra Singh will be the chief guest.
Hastpa president Mohit Sood said, “We are working towards promoting Himachal as the best adventure tourism destination in the world. Through this event we want to present to the world the potential of the Himalayas and how it can be nurtured by way of promoting the ecologically and environmentally friendly sport of mountain biking which has tremendous potential to grow in this part of the Himalayas.”
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
