Unseasonably wet weather played havoc with the UCI World Cup event in Snowshoe, Virginia, on Saturday.
The world's best downhill mountain bikers rolled onto the steep and technical Snowshoe course in very wet conditions.
Muddy ruts quickly developed in the corners. And exposed tree roots on the trail, of which there were many, became impossibly treacherous.
Although the Snowshoe venue's downhill trail did dry throughout the race runs, many of the favourites made errors of judgment in the wet conditions. Losing valuable time.
Minnaar is back on track
French downhill mountain biking superstar, Amaury Pierron, demonstrated his class by winning the men's elite category.
Pierron, a triple downhill world champion, finished only a few hundreds of a second ahead of Britain's Bernard Kerr, who had set a time many believed would be unbeatable.
Despite not being a wet weather riding specialist, South Africa's Greg Minnaar showed his immense bike handling skill, finishing fifth overall. This result is a notable return to form for the KZN rider, regarded by many as the greatest downhill mountain biker of all time.
The next UCI World Cup event is on 5 August, in Mont Sainte Anne, Canada.
