Rachel Atherton made a successful attack on the 2015 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup downhill competition coming second in Round One at Lourdes.

The British rider was two seconds behind French rider Emmeline Ragot, who completed the course in 3 minutes 32 seconds.

At the first split, Atherton had been ahead by the same margin, but she lost time in the latter half.

Rachel Atherton & The Coolest Trail Dog in the World, Angus

Last year’s World Cup and World Champion Manon Carpenter came in at fourth place, just under 8 seconds down, and Tahnee Seagrave took seventh place.

Under Sunday’s hot spring sun, the track in South West France was dusty and loose. It’s the first time a round of the UCI World Cup has been held in Lourdes, though it has hosted the French National Champs.

Atherton, pleased with her placing on the podium, called the course “brutal”.  Carpenter tweeted following the event: “What a race today!! Happy to come away with fourth on such a crazy track, looking forward to the next one.”

The World Cup is just getting underway, of course – Round Two takes place at Fort William, Scotland, in June – and there will be five more after that, leading up until August.

Currently, Atherton is currently in second, with Carpenter in fifth and Seagrave in seventh.