Junior riders Jackson Goldstone and Gracey Hemstreet each take first place in the Junior World Cup standings
While it wasn’t the end of the dream season that many fans had been expecting for Finn Iles, the Whistler product still made history, becoming only the second Canadian to finish third on the overall World Cup podium.
Iles, who was unable to compete in the last World Cup stop of the year in Italy’s Val di Sole on Sunday after suffering a nasty crash at last weekend’s World Championships in Les Gets, France, ended the year just 12 points adrift of second place 996. The French drivers Amaury Pierron and Loris Vergier finished the year in first and second place respectively.
That year, Iles cemented himself as one of the world’s best riders with four podium finishes and two more top 10 finishes.
Iles’ year started on a great note when he finished second in Lourdes, France. Unfortunately, he had to abandon the second World Cup race of the year in Fort William due to a concussion. Upon his return, however, Iles continued his hot start to the season with sixth, second and third places in the next three races at Leogang, Austria, Lenzerheide, Switzerland and Vallnord, Andorra respectively.
After a ninth place finish in Snowshoe, West Virginia, Iles made history at the next stop in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec, where he became the first Canadian to win a World Cup race since Stevie Smith’s historic 2013 season.
While Pierron was almost guaranteed first place overall ahead of the final race of the 2022 World Cup circuit at Val di Sole, Iles wasn’t mathematically excluded from overall victory. Although he was second overall for most of the year, Iles’ DNA was just enough for Vergier to overtake him overall.
In the juniors, Squamish’s Jackson Goldstone and Sechelt’s Gracey Hemstreet each finished the year in first place overall with 440 points. Goldstone ended the year in which he had five first places and two second places with a fourth place finish in Val di Sole. Meanwhile, Hemstreet ended the year on a high, taking her fifth win of the season in Italy. In addition to her five first places, Hemstreet finished two thirds and one second, finishing the year without missing a single podium.
Pemberton’s Tegan Cruz capped his first full season in the Junior World Cup, finishing fourth with 227 points, just off the podium. Whistler’s Wei Tien Ho also found himself in the top 15 despite competing in only five of the eight World Cup events.
