Alex Coleborn came within one point of reaching the UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Cup final but was left with disappointment in the second round of the series in Montpellier.
The Brit placed sixth in the first round of the series, in Hiroshima, but missed out on the top 12 this time around as he was forced to settle for 14th place in a tight competition.
He was one of two British males through to the semi-finals, with Cam Peake unable to compete having suffered an injury during practice, though he did qualify in tenth into Saturday's event.
For Coleborn, his disappointment was by the smallest of margins, with his score of 81.40 just a solitary point standing in his way of coming back to the French course on Sunday.
The first run didn’t quite go the way of the 2017 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships silver medallist, putting in some magic moves before a slip out of the pedals saw his first run of two coming to a premature end.
It meant that he had to pull something special out of the bag second time around – and he very nearly did so, too.
With the crowd wowed as Coleborn went all out, fine margins denied him perfection, repeating some of the tricks that saw him take first place in Montpellier in 2016.
A centrepiece on the highest wall very nearly came off for the Brit but his 81.40 effort was just short of his potential, with Japan’s Nakamura Rim taking 12th place overall – the last rider to reach the final.
America’s Nick Bruce topped the standings as the only man to score greater than 90 points – 91.60 his reward – with Logan Martin of Australia and Croatia’s Marin Rantin rounding off the top three.
And with a heavy storm potentially descending on France overnight, those standings could become final, with the semi-final score considered should the final runs not come to fruition.
