Earlier in the day victory in the women’s event at Loudenvielle went to Austria’s world champion Valentina Höll.

Bruni, riding for Specialized Gravity, was roared on to victory by a French crowd who had plenty of top contenders to cheer in the men’s event with the Olympics in Paris less than a year away.

In the first of back-to-back events in France, Bruni produced a superb run of 3min 31.785sec at this new course in the Pyrenees, but many other contenders crashed as the track dried out, including fellow Frenchman Thibaut Daprela.

"I love the French crowds," an emotional Bruni said after the competition.

"All the crowds, I push the limits every day but the French want you to win so much you have to give everything."

Dakotah Norton of the United States, riding for Intense Factory Racing, was second, just 0.777sec slower than Bruni, with British rider Laurie Greenland, representing Santa Cruz Syndicate in third.

Canada’s rankings leader Finn Iles was disqualified for leaving the course as he pushed to make up time.

Meanwhile Höll had climbed off her sick bed to win the women’s downhill.

"It’s been pretty hard, changing conditions and not knowing if we were going to race or not - to pull it off now in those conditions is pretty sick!" said Höll, who extends her rankings lead.

The Austrian, who races for Rockshox Trek Race Team, had lost out to Nina Hoffman, of the Santa Cruz Syndicate team, in the previous round in Andorra, but this time Höll refused to be beaten by her German rival, and her time of 4:00.593 was nearly three seconds quicker than Hoffman’s.

French rider Marine Cabirou, for Scott Downhill Factory, was third.

Britain’s Tahnee Seagrave crashed halfway down the course on a run that had looked very promising.

The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup action continues in France with the Festival Haute-Savoie event scheduled from September 7 to 17.

The downhill races are due to take place in Les Gets on September 9, with the cross-country Olympic races scheduled for the following day.