JACK Thomas gave a glimpse of what he is capable of in the opening run of the bob skeleton World Cup season but was left wondering what could have been after an early mistake scuppered his chances.

The 26-year-old Westhoughton rider put in a blistering start to his debut race in the top tier of international competition at Whistler in Canada.

But Thomas momentarily lost control of his sled and was left playing catch-up, finishing in 55.30secs and missing the cut for the second and final run.

He was 25th overall on the 2014 Winter Olympic course, with fellow Brit Dominic Parsons finishing eighth, 0.8secs behind the winner, South Korea's Sungbin Yun.

"The season didn't start as planned," said the former Horwich RMI Harrier.

"A huge pop out of the groove at the top of the track left me a big task to try to claw it back.

"My start of 4.63secs was the fifth fastest start of the day, even though I skidded and hit two walls before the timing eye.

"My coach said it would have been close to a start record.

"These things happen sometimes and I've learned a lot from it.

"The speed I lost from this vital part of the course was huge. I finished 25th which I was really disappointed with, but I see no reason why I can't be in the top 10 week in, week out."

Thomas admits it is a steep learning curve after graduating from the European circuit, skipping the Intercontinental Cup, meaning he is having to learn each new track from scratch in the North American leg of the season.

But he believes a bit of inside knowledge will help him get to grips with the next run, at Lake Placid in New York state, USA a week on Saturday.

"I don't have much experience on the tracks out here in North America, but I'm working hard on them with my coach, Eric," he said.

"I'm already in Lake Placid, which so happens to be my coach's home track. I'm looking to show the world what I can really do in this race."