Great Britain's Bernard Kerr edged out Christchurch downhill rider Cam Cole by the narrowest of margins to win the first round of the BikeNZ Mountain Bike Cup Series in Bluff.
Kerr claimed victory in the elite men's race with a time of 2:52.35, a mere 0.04 of a second ahead of Cole on the 1.37km track descending the iconic Bluff Hill at the weekend.
Louis Hamilton from Rotorua took third place with 2:55.43.
Kerr defeated a strong field with riders from France, Japan, Brazil, Canada, and New Zealand.
"My race run wasn't perfect, it was really windy, which made it difficult to do all of the jumps, but overall I'm really happy," Kerr said. "It was really fun, and I'm looking forward to the next races in the series before I leave in February."