Gee Atherton earned the silver medal in testing conditions at the British National Mountain Bike Championships in Scotland at the weekend.
Heading into the event as the reigning champion, Gee was looking to retain the title he gained last year on the tough Innerliethan track. This year's championship remained in Scotland, but switched from east to west, with the Forest of Ae hosting the 2010 event.
The track was short but had plenty to test the stacked field of riders, which was made up of World Cup regulars and the best riders in the country.
With the weather deteriorating on Sunday it was always going to be a muddy affair, but heavy rain showers throughout the day meant that the conditions were constantly changing.
Reigning World Champion Steve Peat crashed in qualifying, but had the advantage of being one of the first riders off in the finals on a clean track.
Despite battling against poor visibility, Peat had a fast wet track that saw him post a challenging time of 2m 15s, which was four seconds quicker than Gee's qualifier.
Steve's team mate and second placed qualifier, Josh Bryceland, was the closest to toppling his time with a run of 2m 19s, which left Gee as the only man on the hill able to beat Peat.
Gee struggled to get into his run and despite beating his qualifying time it was not enough to prise the gold medal from Peat and a disappointed Gee said: "I was struggling with the conditions on track. By the time I came down it was real beat up, it was really wet and it was hard to judge where to push.
"I was stalling here and there and fading in places. Sometimes you just feel bad and you don't get it together and I guess that's what happened today."
Gee now turns his focus to the next phase of the season and rounds four and five of the UCI World Cup, where the courses at Champery and Val di Sole should suit Gee's riding style.
He will be aiming to claw back the gap between him and series leader Greg Minnaar, which currently stands at 73 points.
Head over to The Atherton Project for the latest news on Gee, Rachel and Dan
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