A near faultless run by Pierron, clean and fast throughout, saw him triumph in a time of 2min 57.008sec.

Fellow Frenchman Loïc Bruni, the reigning world champion, finished 2.352 seconds behind in the runners-up spot.

Great Britain’s Laurie Greenland was 3.450 seconds off the pace in third.

"It’s such a loose track," Greenland said.

"You have to be on the edge throughout, so to be as close as I was to the French riders is pretty pleasing.

"I loved it.

"Normally I prefer a more technical track, but it was fun to race something so different."

Australia’s Tracey Hannah won the women’s event in 3:27.600.

Home favourite Marine Cabirou was the silver medallist in 3:28.277 and El Salvador’s Mariana Salazar took the bronze in 3:29.771.

World champion Rachel Atherton of Britain was out injured with a ruptured Achilles tendon after landing badly over the final jump during practice.

It comes on the back of her win last Saturday (July 6) at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Vallnord in Andorra.

"As suspected, I’ve completely torn my Achilles tendon," Atherton posted on Instagram.

"So it’s surgery today to fix it.

"Couldn’t be more different to this day exactly a week ago."

Action in Les Gets is due to conclude tomorrow with the cross-country finals.