Cycling BC caught up with Whistler local, Finn Iles. Iles has just come off his first World Cup win at the first stop of the 2016 DH World Cup series. This is an incredible feat, as Iles has just begun his first year as a Junior, and this is his first time competing in the World Cup. Here’s what Iles had to say about his World Cup experience:
This year I tried to stay focused in the off season. I followed a gym program, I trained and had fun on my DH and trail bike whenever I could. School was full on in the first semester because I did 4 academic courses to allow me to maintain focus for the race season. I hoped that I could win at some point during the season, but I didn’t think it would be the first race and the top step. I’m really stoked on the win, and am now shifting my focus to the next race in Cairns, AUS.
Spending time in the pits the last two years and getting to ride many of the World Cup tracks as the forerunner was a great opportunity. There was a group of us forerunning at a bunch of different races, which was really fun too. The World Cup tracks are really different and definitely more difficult than what I’ve raced on in the BC Cups or in Whistler, so I think it did prepare me going into my first year as a junior. I also had amazing support from my teammates, manager, and mechanic. We had a lot of fun together last year, so that made things comfortable this year. They feel like family.
Lourdes was a great track, that was ever changing with the weather and riders. My favourite section of the track to ride at Lourdes was a section called the wall, it was very technical and hard to predict. It was also my favourite section to watch because there was a lot of sketchy riding through there.
I’d like to thank my whole team (Specialized Gravity Team) for all of their support, all of my sponsors, my friends, and my family.
If you’d like to find out more about me or to follow along with my WC racing check out my Facebook and Instagram pages.
Check out Iles’ race results from the UCI Downhill World Cup Race #1 here.
