BROMONT, Quebec – One week after matching his best-ever finish in an International Cycling Union World Cup mountain bike race, Exeter native Adam Craig went one spot better with a third-place finish Sunday in the elite men’s cross country event at this mountain resort outside of Montreal.

Reigning Olympic champion Julien Absalon of France won the race in a time of 2 hours, 16 minutes and 24 seconds, 2:14 ahead of runnerup Lukas Fluckiger of Switzerland.

Craig, a 2008 U.S. Olympian who a week earlier finished fourth in a World Cup race at Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec, just north of Quebec City, was next to finish the muddy, technical Bromont course, 3:46 behind Absalon.

Canadian Olympian Geoff Kabush finished fourth, while Craig’s U.S. Olympic teammate, Todd Wells, was 10th, 8:39 behind Absalon.

The result moves Craig, a rider for the Giant Mountain Bike Team, up from ninth place to fifth in the World Cup point standings.

The World Cup series now takes a hiatus for the Olympic mountain bike race, set for Aug. 24 in Beijing. Craig and Wells soon will be headed for the island of Jeju off the coast of South Korea for pre-Olympic training.