Shimla youth David scores hat-trick, wins MTB rally

Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 21

Local youth David Kumar scored a hat-trick by winning the 8th edition of Hero MTB Shimla on Sunday. He also retained the title of ‘King of Shivalik’ while Ashish Sherpa and Atul Chauhan finished second and third, respectively.

David won the race with a total time of 6:02:05 hour. In the student solo category, Sidharth Thakur from Shimla was declared the winner. Sunil Barongpa from Kullu excelled in the masters solo category and Binita Rai from the Sashastra Seema Bal was declared the winner in the women solo category. She was given the title of ‘Queen of Shivaliks’.

As many as 80 out of 88 cyclists rode today. However, some of them dropped out within 5 km of the race. The second stage — ‘The Kingdoms Alley’ — took the riders through the old kingdom of Kiarkoti and Moolkoti entrenched in deep deodar forests. It was a short, but an action-packed day with tonnes of fast descending and one very nasty climb towards the end of the day. About 90 per cent of the route was on forest paths and single track. The race culminated at Craignano in Mashobra.

This year’s edition saw the maximum participation from Gurgaon and Shimla. The closing ceremony of the event was held on The Ridge.