Australia's Saya Sakakibara has tapped into local knowledge of her French base to win the BMX world cup event in Sarrians.
Sakakibara, on the path to Olympic redemption at next year's Paris Games, is based in the south of France and emerged victorious in a confidence-boosting display.
The five-time world champ, cheered on by her adopted home crowd, banked her second win in six cup races this year.
"It's so special that I could win on this track," Sakakibara said.
"I love the energy from the French crowd. The way you guys roared, I gained some of that energy and it's a pleasure to win here."
The Gold Coast-born 24-year-old, who beat Swiss rider Zoe Claessens and Merel Smulders of the Netherlands, knew the secret of Sarrians from her training: the fastest of starts.
"This first straight is so short that it is absolute key," Sakakibara said.
"And I knew that the inside is going to be the biggest advantage and I was quite confident on my hill in my start.
"I knew that if I could get a good start and come across that inside line, I had a really good chance.
"But in the semi-final my legs were burning, almost cramping, and I was really worried that Zoe ... was going to catch me.
"I just left everything out there today and it feels really good."
Sakakibara, whose mother is Japanese, was a medal favourite at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
She was riding with added motivation for her brother Kai, who suffered a shocking BMX race injury in February 2020 and was in a coma for two months with severe brain trauma.
But when leading her Olympic semi-final, the Australian crashed and was stretchered from the track.
Sakakibara suffered concussion symptoms for months, before gradually returning to the track, admitting that her battles were as much mental as physical.
"There's still some of that fear left. It's a challenge," she told olympics.com last year.
The final two rounds of the world cup will be held in Argentina on October 7-8 and October 13-14.
