Shimla biker retains 'King of Shivaliks' title

Shimlas intrepid biker David Kumar on Sunday scored his third win on the roll in the eighth edition of Hero MTB (mountain biking) Shimla and retained the 'King of Shivaliks title, event organisers said here.

The second stage of the 110-km race finished at beautiful Craignano in Mashobra that traces its history to the British India, followed a podium ceremony here.

Ashish Sherpa from Hero Action Team won the second stage of the race, displaying a strong competitive performance. Due to a gap of 15 minutes built by Kumar in Saturday's stage, he bagged the top honour and won the yellow jersey.

Two-time Hero MTB Shimla champion Kumar clocked his third win at the race with 6:02:05 time and was crowned the King of Shivaliks. Sherpa was the overall runner-up with 6:22:31 time.

Sidharth Thakur from Shimla won the Student Solo category, while Sunil Barongpa from Kullu won the Masters Solo Category. Binita Rai from the Shashtra Seema Bal (SSB) won the Women Solo category and was crowned the Queen of Shivaliks.

Nearly 80 cyclists took the start line out of the registered 88. A few riders dropped out within the first five kms of the race.

The second stage, named The Kingdoms Alley, took the riders through Kiarkoti and Moolkoti route. The riders climbed nearly 1,500m in only 30 km making it a short but technical day.

This year saw the maximum participation from Gurgaon and Shimla.

--IANS

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