Finn Iles joins Lapierre Gravity Republic

Oct 27, 2014 at 9:04
by Pinkbike Staff  
Numerous people will look at 2014 Junior World Champ next season, but Loris is not afraid by the pressure. His last two years with the team were great and staying with us looks obvious as Loris has some great ambitions and all of us are really motivated to help him to achieve them.

Loris and Loic will also have a new young team mate next year: Finn ILES.

The young Canadian rider is only 15 years old, but some people may know him due to the Vital #FinnIsIn campaign last year to help him to compete in the Whistler Crankworx WHIP Contest. Only 14 years old at this time Finn was finally able to do the contest and win it!

Finn Isles with Brett Tippie at the Official Whip off Worlds Crankworx 2014 Whistler British Columbia Canada

Finn is not only a stylish rider. He also won Garbanzo DH in Junior category and was spotted by Laurent DELORME when he opened the track in Mont St Anne world cup. He joins the team for the next 3 years.

The team will also have a new mechanic next year. After successfull years with us, Billy CEUSTERS will leave us for a new challenge. Billy was with us for a long time, he has worked with our XC riders Alexis VUILLERMOZ, Pauline FERRAND PREVOT, Jordan SARROU and also Loris VERGIER for the last two seasons. He will be replaced by Kevin JOLY, former Cedric GRACIA's mechanic and owner of MTB shop PIT STOP. He will take care of our riders with Jack ROURE.

Some riders will also stop their collaboration with us. Emmeline RAGOT and Sam BLENKINSOP will go for new challenges next year and we wish them the best.

Laurent Delorme – Team Manager Lapierre / www.pureagency.lu

"Emmeline and Sam were perfect. Today we've chosen to focus on young guns, but those two riders did an amazing job during the last seasons with us. They were both involved in our successfull results. It's a little bit special for me to let Sam go on to a new project. His arrival on the team 5 years ago was a key date for us. He became a friend and it was so nice to work with him. I will never forget what he did for us. Thanks Mister Blenki!".


Mentions: @finno @LaPierre-Bikes



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3,465 articles

90 Comments
  • 95 1
 I will be missing Blenky & Ragot on Lapierre for sure. I wonder where they will be headed to. Hope Ragot hasn't decided to retire, that would be a huge blow for womens racing.
  • 38 4
 Well if Ragot does retire from DH racing, I'm sure she'll race Enduro just like all the other ex downhill champions.
  • 22 0
 Spoiler: Blenky's on a Swiss bike ... and it's not Redalp!
  • 15 0
 thanks god its not redalp haha
  • 6 3
 well, it can only be Scott then, righty right?
  • 15 0
 If Blenky is on Scott, well, that would be awesome i think.
  • 8 2
 @Gweggy there are some serious rumors about KTM starting a DH team
  • 7 0
 KTM is Austrian!
  • 3 3
 BMC??
  • 4 1
 I guess there has been some misunderstandings because KTM has been at some IXS cup races with their big racing trucks. but they were just offering demo rides with their e-mx bikes. I don't see a team coming up with KTM as a main sponsor (KTM Moto and KTM Bicycle are different companies).

What I've heared some weeks ago was Blenky on Scott.
Hart also on a new team, on a f**kn nice one Big Grin ... won't tell, just teasing Razz
  • 3 0
 spoiler, not ktm, not bmc, not scott...
  • 1 0
 Anyone remember S-Bike? They were swiss
  • 7 1
 Blenky on Scott? Well at some point Scott needed to have a guy capable of at least podiuming, nevermind how stylish Brendog is. I'm still not quite sure how good of a race bike the Gambler is so that will be interesting to see for sure!
  • 4 0
 He is not on a Swiss bike. Nor is Enmeline ;-)
  • 13 0
 You hear rumors... Not truths
  • 3 2
 It will come out soon enough. Airborne!
  • 1 0
 A stir on riders and teams and young blood moving up. The dh scene is a storybook itself.cant wait for 2015.
  • 26 0
 Huffy?
  • 6 0
 I bet Blenki is going on Norco
  • 8 0
 Betting intense/DVO team for Blenky
  • 3 0
 @hammm no they're both obviously going to be riding on next bikes next year duhhh lol
  • 1 0
 @davetrump i hear truths Smile
  • 4 0
 @Liam-Bosse well played sir
  • 2 0
 @jasperwesselman I hear truths as well.
  • 4 0
 Now there's some truths being tossed around ;-)
  • 2 0
 if blenki is on scott the steeze levels will be very high with him and fairclough together
  • 2 0
 @davetrump although I'm not too happy with the other impacts those truth's have had
  • 2 0
 Likewise
  • 1 3
 Claudio does not make Scott to a Swiss bike, the Team might be it but not the bike.
Could he change to Canyon?
  • 4 0
 "The Swiss company SCOTT Sports SA (formerly Scott USA) is a producer of bicycles, winter equipment, motorsports gear and sportswear." - Wikipedia
Even though they originate from the USA, Scott is a Swiss company now!
  • 6 0
 ok, another tax saver then...
  • 1 0
 their upper management has pretty swiss sounding names ^^
  • 2 0
 Scott Sports has been a Swiss company for many years now...they are based in Givisiez, near Fribourg. Biking is just one part of their business, they also touch motorsports, wintersports and running.
  • 1 0
 Isn't Hart possiably going to mondraker.
  • 39 1
 ok so, can i have the session?
  • 10 15
flag JustWhipIt (Oct 27, 2014 at 10:36) (Below Threshold)
 I called dibs on it first
  • 1 0
 It has to be an S size, who would like to have that ? Big Grin
  • 6 0
 Possible Slope bike? Razz
  • 7 22
flag JustWhipIt (Oct 27, 2014 at 13:14) (Below Threshold)
 I don't get it? I tried to make a joke and got 2 dislikes... Really can't please some people.
  • 6 11
flag adamconradx (Oct 27, 2014 at 13:34) (Below Threshold)
 lets hope he gets used to the bike quickly... a session is so much more planted than a lapierre... lapierres skip like kangeroos!
  • 6 0
 Lapierre has a new bike.
  • 3 4
 Hey guys that's not a bad thing... And yeah true I've never ridden those thought are they more like a session?
  • 10 0
 asian like me could use a s size session.
  • 31 2
 I just hope all this attention and praise doesn't go to his head and ruin him
  • 12 1
 Having spent some time around Finn after signing for the new team and all the attention, it's pretty clear nothing is going to his head. Class act for such a young age.
  • 27 0
 Finn, I hope you payed attention in French class
  • 9 4
 Considering he's on Snapierre, duct tape class may be just as important....
  • 6 1
 Apart from snappining competition I didn't see anythinh else snap..
  • 23 1
 Love the way Lappiere spot young athletes and taking them to be at the top..Laurent have the right culture about DH racing.. Good job!
  • 18 1
 *runs over to Vital to check teamrumors thread*
  • 13 0
 Wow, where are Emmeline and Sam going I wonder?
  • 15 2
 lapierre team = youngster all stars
  • 12 1
 Huge sponsor for Finn! This is great.
  • 6 0
 Was told last year that you had to be a racing age of 17 to race Jr World Cups... Not sure if that is changing this year.
  • 2 0
 I'm pretty sure troys first WC was at 16
  • 4 0
 He will pre run many WC tracks so will gain valuable experience being on track with best riders and getting used to all tht ravel. He will provide a lot of exposure at festivals such as Crankwox and had been working on high end video and photo shoots so he will be plenty busy next season. He signed for three years so will stay with the team for his two jr years on WC circuit as well.
  • 4 0
 This was pretty similar to what Yeti did with Richie Rude correct?
  • 7 2
 exept yeti ditched downhill to start enduro..
  • 6 0
 Yea that sucks. I mean Yeti can do whatever it wants and so can Richie. They know better what's best for them than I do. But from a purely selfish standpoint, as a fan of DH and an American, it would have been awesome to root for him and watch him progress.
  • 3 0
 My kid was a pre-runner this year at Windham, age 16. I do think the rules have changed and you have to be 17 to race WCs now. I look forward to watching this kids progression. I hope more factory team look for young talent to develop.
  • 2 0
 You need to be turning 17 within that year to race world cups. So for 2015 you need to have been born in 1998 or earlier. Doesn't matter if you're birthday is January 1st or December 31st as you would turn 17 by the end.
  • 5 0
 This is Sick !, I would have sworn he was gonna sign with Specialized or Devinci !
  • 5 0
 gutted emmeline isn't staying on, hope she'll be picked up by another team though.
  • 4 0
 Me too. She's a top rider and the women's field need her there challenging at the top
  • 9 3
 blenki to intense?
  • 8 1
 Hopefully somewhere! He is my favorite racer, it's his time to win a WC!
  • 14 6
 You've Scott to be kiddin me? I'm no gambler, but I think I know where he's going...
  • 15 2
 You don't ;-)
  • 4 0
 Is he old enough to race world cups yet?
  • 2 0
 Follow me no, I think you need to be 17... But maybe it changed and I'm wrong !
  • 1 0
 Yea Dave answered the question below. He won't be able to race in his first year with the team.
  • 4 0
 The Lapierre team is going to have some sick whips!
  • 4 1
 so sick! way to go Finn!! Big Grin
  • 3 0
 looks like he's about to get his arm rip right off
  • 1 0
 had to scroll back up for that one, hilarious
  • 3 0
 Nothing but positive vibes for the little ripper!
  • 3 1
 hopefully this article was a translation..
  • 5 0
 The original was very French. Enjoy the facts and don't get hung up the little details ;-)
  • 2 0
 I like his Trek better haha
  • 2 0
 congrats to him. what a great chance on a great team.
  • 1 0
 Wow BIG team changes there!
  • 1 0
 So who has gone to Mondraker? Blinki or Hart?
  • 1 0
 Screw all the speculation, i like waiting to be suprised
  • 1 0
 Hahha! Add a "shhhh" and you will get "#finishing!"
  • 8 9
 #FinnIsWinning
  • 13 5
 Or #FinnForTheWin
  • 8 5
 #Fwinning!
  • 2 3
 #FinnIsIn







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