Louis Leao Pinto back at MTB Himalaya

Shimla : World no 9 Louis Leao Pinto returns to the MTB Himalaya cycle rally which he won two years ago, organisers said Tuesday.

The 34 year old lawyer-turned-rider is a Portuguese national champion and ranked 6th in Europe.

A mountain biker at heart, he prefers the dirt roads over tarmac.

This year Pinto will be competing against top riders like Pau Zamora, a four time Cape Epic finisher a former world no 12 .

Also Guido Thaler, the 33 year old Austrian. Andreas Seewald the 23 year old German are a,so taking part.

Hero MTB Himalaya 2012 winner – Narayan Gopal Maharjan, is making a comeback this year.

The 550 km long gruelling cycle rally gets underway on Sept 27 and ends on 4 Oct.