Finn Iles

TO say Finn Iles had a standout year in 2017 would be an understatement. And 2016, the year he became junior DH world champion, wasn’t too shabby, either. The 18-year-old rider who calls Whistler, B.C., home took six out of seven World Cup wins this past year. Now that he’s moved up to elite, Iles knows those results may not be in his grasp – yet. Still, he would have placed seventh in Andorra in 2017 had he been racing the senior men. Besides a small mistake in Fort William, U.K., that he says put him back, Iles feels the entire season went better than he ever could have imagined. He says he was able to ride pretty consistently, improved his time-management skills and was fortunate not to have any mechanicals. “I felt like I got more intelligent as a rider,” he says. Iles’ two favourite races were Andorra and Mont-sainte-Anne. “In Andorra, I felt that was my best riding I’d done all season,” he says. “By race time, I felt really comfortable and I feel like I put down my best race ever.” That happens to be the aforementioned “seventh” place. For the latter, Iles says it felt really good to win on home soil — especially since he’d lost first place by 0.031 seconds in his 2016 season. He chalks up his tenth-place finish at the world championships in Cairns, Australia, as a good, if disappointing, learning opportunity. Iles feels he got too much in his head and pushed too hard for the conditions. During the winter, Iles’ focus was on getting faster and fitter. He was in Europe for a training camp at the beginning of the year before heading back to B.C. to spend time at the gym, on the trainer and on skis. Given the high stakes of his sport, Iles is pretty realistic about having something to fall back on. He’s applying to the University of Victoria for business management or economics, and would like to start classes next fall. “As the winter progresses, I hope to get better and better, and be good to go for the first World Cup,” he said. That would be Lošinj, Croatia. Iles recognizes he’s up against some pretty strong competition. He’d like to try and maintain a top-10 to top-15 position and wants to focus on trying to develop as a rider. “My plans are to ride my best,” he says. “The past two years have been good preparation for what’s coming up. Me and my mechanic and the whole team have been working hard.” Iles’ fearless style has firmly placed him on the map. He’s not going to be joining the top ranks quietly.

“Still, he would have placed seventh had he been racing the senior men.”