After a very long wait, Whistler’s first-ever World Cup is in the books. It was obviously a thrilling weekend, with 10s of thousands of fans crowding into the Creekside finish area and many thousands more lining the track above. Racers were stoked. Fans loved the show. It was a huge success.
But how big of an event was it? To the Whistler community? To the Canadian downhill community? In the context of the global World Cup calendar? We talked to Finn Iles about what it means to him, to Steve Smith’s mom, Tianna Smith, about what having the 1199 track named after her late son means to her, and to the top Canadian finishers, and top Canadian juniors, about what racing at home meant to them.
Here’s more from Canadians and a who’s-who of the World Cup community.
Gabe Fox – Canyon team manager
Whistler’s homecoming was a big weekend for Fox. The course is named after his former athlete and friend, Steve Smith, and his current team, Canyon Factory Racing, was marking its 10 year anniversary.
“It’s a big weekend. It’s pretty exciting to have a World Cup on the west coast. There’s a lot of young kids, a lot of people that are in cycling here, and I think it’s a real treat for everyone to see it first hand,” Fox said. “Hopefully it generates further interest and inspiration for the young riders to see a path to inspiration and participation in the sport at a high level.”
Inspiring the next generation and opening up a pathway to the World Cup is exactly what Fox’s protege, Smith, is credited with doing. For Fox, seeing the World Cup come to a place Smith spent so much time reinforces the late Canadians passion for his local community.
“With Stevie, he was the first guy that won the World Cup, that’s well known, I think he did provide a lot of inspiration in showing that it was possible for a Canadian to be at the top. I think that’s what he did,” Fox says. “And he genuinely did want Canadians to succeed. When he would see, in those early races around 2012 era, those young juniors when they didn’t qualify or they had upsets, like, he’d be upset. He wanted them he wanted them to do better.”
Now, Canada’s juniors are flying. And the generation that grew up watching Stevie, like Jackson Goldstone, Finn Iles and the Jewett brothers, are at the top of the sport.
“I think he paved the way for the Finn’s and Jackson’s. They’re incredibly talented riders in their own right, but he played some part in it.”
And, with racing hopefully returning to Whistler for years to come as well as the continuing efforts of the Stevie Smith Legacy Foundation, Smith’s influence in Canadian downhill is one that won’t soon be forgotten.
Sven Martin – legendary race photographer
While Canadians are, for obvious reasons, stoked to bring the World Cup home, even regulars on the circuit, like legendary World Cup race photographer and historian of the sport Sven Martin, were impressed by the show Whistler put on.
“I was coming here before I went to my first World Cup, around 2001 or 2002 onwards. It was a no-brainer that this would be an event. I’m surprised it took so long but I’m super happy its here,” Martin said. “I think it’s going to end up becoming one of those permanent fixtures. I certainly hope so. We’ve not seen this many people on track for training and quali days.”
It’s not just the fans that made the weekend stand out. Martin says the 1199 was a worthy test of the wold’s best racers.
“[1199] is on the whole more challenging. There’s others on the circuit, even the tough ones like Val di Sole, that have challenging features. But all the in between bits are quite challenging here too. It’s all these wild roots and rocks and off-cambre. There’s a little bit more flatter sections than people are used to but it’s good to have a little bit of that anyway. And it probably just felt slow in the mud.”
Martin initially told me his one objection was that the race should finish in Creekside Village proper, saying “It needs to go all the way to Dusty’s.” Later on in the day, while hustling a huge bag of camera gear uphill between spots through a swelling crowed in the finish bowl, he took the time to stop and make sure he corrected himself.
“I need to roll back the tape! I said earlier I wish we’d end in the village. We can’t! You’d never fit this many people in!” Martin said, giving credit to the massive crowd. “This is the best finish, and it’s just going to get fuller and fuller. So there’s no need to move the finish.”
Chad Hendren – Canadian national downhill coach
Chad Hendren is the man guiding many of the Canadian racers that aren’t supported by World Series-level factory programs. As the Canadian national downhill coach, as a coach at Gravity MTB in Cumberland that supports racers on the Canada Cup circuit, and as a former longtime Whistler resident, he was very clear about how big of a deal the weekend was.
“It’s monumental to be racing World Cup in Whistler this weekend,” Hendren said. “It’s been a really long time in the works. I know we were shooting for it in the early 2000s and for whatever reason it didn’t happen and Grouse got it instead. Everyone’s fired up to be here. Embracing the wet and rowdy conditions.”
Hendren said all the Canadian racers wanted to be in the start hut this weekend, with many using their Golden Ticket, an entry earned through qualifying races to start any single World Cup, to get onto the start list for Whistler. His advice to the young racers, several of whom were in their first World Cup, all of whom were racing a World Cup in B.C. for the first time?
“Have fun. Number one thing is to have fun and enjoy it. I know Stevie is upstairs giggling right now watching everyone ride and slip through these roots and ruts. It’s a magical weekend for sure.”
Johnathan Helly -14th elite men and 2025 national champion
One of the Canadians that entered Whistler through the Canadian national federation was Johnathan Helly. The 2025 national champion is, despite his incredible speed, still a privateer. After charging hard on course all weekend, Helly ended up producing one of Canada’s best results, placing 14th in the elite men’s race.
“Honestly, it feels unreal. I think everyone I know that likes riding bikes is out here. It’s unbelievable to hear all the familiar voices in the crowd,” Kamloops-based Helly said of racing at home. “The vibes are so high. It was a good track, good people, hard to complain. World Cup’s are a different beast than our national tracks, but it feels good to get it done on a proper track.”
This was Helly’s first World Cup final, a career-defining achievement, but it wasn’t his first time on the 1199 track. While he’s raced it as a Canadian Open DH track during realise, the weekend’s experience was something else.
” That was completely different to this weekend. It’s rutted and wet, it’s gnarly,” Helly explained. It wasn’t just the weather. “There’s thousands of people here. realise is cool, but this is definitely the pinnacle of our sport.”
Gabe Neron – 2022 elite men’s national champion
Squamish local and 2022 elite men’s national champion Gabe Neron was another rider extremely hyped on his experience racing in Whistler.
“It was amazing! A World Cup in our back yard? I live 30 minutes from here, so yesterday before my run I looked down the valley and thought, man, this is our back yard, this is amazing.”
Like Helly, Neron’s raced on 1199 before, including as part of the Cycling BC project to test out the track before it was first used during Crankworx.
“You think Crankworx is big until the World Cup shows up. This is like the Disneyland of mountain biking. It’s huge,” Neron said. “All the preparation that goes into this event is insane. It’s a great achievement for Whistler to have this kind of event.”
While Neron didn’t make it through to finals, he was still stoked on the experience as he headed up the mountain to watch Sunday’s racing.
“I had a good Q1, then I made the switch to a dry tire for Q2 and it didn’t quite work out. But at the end of the day, it’s all positives. To be part of the first Whistler World Cup? That’s a win. I’m super excited.”
Loic Bruni – Specialized Gravity Racing
It’s not just Canadian racers that had Whistler as a goal-race for the season. Specialized Gravity Racing’s super star was in Whistler in hopes that his season-disrupting injury had healed enough to get on course.
“There’s always special ones on the calendar that you tick, where you want to do better. For me, it’s the French rounds, and this one, being the first one in Whistler ever. So it stings to be on the sidelines, but it is what it is.”
After a thrilling title fight against Goldstone in 2025, Bruni’s been sidelined by injury for most of 2026.
“This year has been tough, it felt unfair the whole way. Maybe it’s good to learn a little bit about how it rides for next year,” said Bruni. He was in Whistler in the hopes he could race. “For sure I was hoping to be on the bike. But last few weeks have been tricky. When I tried to ride the wrist wasn’t doing as well as expected. So there was no real good reasons to try. If’ you’re not close to 100 per cent you’re not even qualifying,”
The French racer was impressed with the course, even from the sidelines, during Friday’s muddy practice.
“This morning I went and it was really hectic. But it looked like everyone could still push and have good speed. It looked really physical. It’ll be really hard.”
Noah Milner – 18th Junior finals
In amongst the more experienced veterans, a solid crew of Canadian juniors were busy showing they can compete against the best in the world. That included Vernon, B.C.’s Noah Milner, who made it through to junior men’s finals on Sunday.
“It’s what you dream about when you’re really little and riding Whistler,” says Milner of competing at home. “I lived here until I was 10. I dreamed about racing in front of a crowd like this and to actually make that happen is unreal.”
Milner was all smiles in the finish area, despite a significant streak of mud down his side hinting that he’d had a crash during his race run.
“It was going pretty well until then. I was hitting my lines, my intensity was good. Just before the second split, my front tire hit a root and slid down a bit so I had to run back up and get my bike, and my hands got really slippery in the bars from the mud, so I had to stop again and wipe the mud off. So, it was interesting. But we have Lake Placid next weekend, and that’ll be sick.”
Results are just part of the experience, though. Milner said racing at home wasn’t just about the experience for him, but showing others that Whistler really does live up to the hype .
“All last year, going to Europe and telling all the boys about Whistler ‘it’s the best ever, you’ve gotta come’ and for them to actually come and see and realise it’s the just best place on earth to ride bikes, it’s unreal.”
If you were in Whistler this weekend, you know what an amazing experience it was. If you missed out, let this be the push you need to make sure you’re there in 2027.