On a day of wild weather and extreme track conditions, Giant Factory Off-Road Team rider Marcelo Gutierrez put in a clean run to land a podium finish at the opening round of the 2017 UCI World Cup Downhill Series in Lourdes, France.

After struggling with injuries last year, Gutierrez, the six-time Colombian national champion, showed that he’s back to full strength with a strong run on a day of surprises in France. Riders who went earlier in the finals had the advantage as a storm moved in and caused conditions to deteriorate later.

“What a race,” said Gutierrez, who ended up finishing third on his Glory Advanced team bike. “It’s no secret that the weather played a role and favored some of us. I had a bad result in the qualifiers because I didn’t risk as much as I should have, but that gave me some motivation for the finals. The race was really good, maybe I wouldn’t have finished third with the weather, but probably still a top-10.”

The 2017 UCI DH World Cup consists of seven events in seven different nations. The series continues May 20 with round 2 in Fort William, Scotland.