Canadian mountain biking at the next level

“This is the best moment of my life. My parents are here. My team is here. We’re in Canada on Canadian soil,” Finn Iles said after his winning run at the downhill Mont-sainte-anne World Cup in August. The Whistler racer had taken his first World Cup win as an elite rider. It’s just the second from a Canadian man after the late Steve Smith. “To be able to win my first World Cup here, and to be the second Canadian to do it after Stevie,” Iles added, “I feel like it was scripted.”

It does read like a Hollywood story arc. Iles has chased this win since 2018 after graduating from the junior category. He wasn’t, however, the only Canadian finding success at home that weekend. The next day, on the other side of the country, Jesse Melamed won an Enduro World Series round in his hometown of Whistler. He was joined on the podium by longtime teammate Remi Gauvin, who finished third.

These two moments, two Canadians at the top of their respective disciplines, aren’t the only story. Back in Mont-sainte-anne, Jackson Goldstone won the junior men’s downhill and, in doing so, clinched the season-long World Cup overall. Three more bronze medals, from Bodhi Kuhn and Gracey Hemstreet in junior downhill and Carter Woods in under-23 cross country, added to the home team’s medal haul.

In Whistler, Seth Sherlock, Emmett Hancock and Lief Rodgers swept the under-21 men’s podium. Colby Pringle and Marcus Goguen made sure all top five under-21 spots were occupied by Canadian riders.

Later that month, both Iles and Goldstone faced setbacks as crashes marred their performances at the world championships in Les Gets. Yet, i n early August, there was momentum. After finishing his first of two days of racing i n Whistler, Sherlock sprinted back to the team area to watch Iles’s run. “I was screaming at my phone. I was so stoked,” the Squamish rider said after his own win. “It was such a crazy weekend for Canadians in general,” Sherlock added, “It’s next level.”— Terrymckall