It’s been a rough year for Loic Bruni. He’s been so close to claiming his first World Cup win but has remained perpetually in the shadow of other men. He’s been second four times and a number of mechanicals and crashes have earned him the title of the unluckiest man in downhill.

In Andorra he turned it all around. The pressure of the World Champs along with his custom silver bike seemed to make something click for the 21 year old and he was finally able to take to the top step of an elite level podium.

The run shows his technical prowess on the steep slopes of the Vallnord bike park. On one section in particular it is like watching a game of ping-pong as he ricochets from berm to berm.

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As Bruni slides into the finish area the crowd and commentators go wild, it’s pretty safe to say this was a popular result for the whole mountain biking community. Troy Brosnan and Aaron Gwin followed Loic down the hill but they both crashed leaving Bruni to take the rainbow stripes.

It will be interesting to see whether Bruni will be able to take his new-found killer instinct into next year’s series or it will remain a one-off, special run as Danny Hart’s was at Champery in 2011.