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The British freeride and YouTube legend Sam Pilgrim has announced a new sponsorship with Canyon for 2023 and beyond.
Pilgrim, a slopestyle, freeride and dirt athlete who now boasts more than 1.8million subscribers on YouTube, had previously ridden Haibike machines as part of a sponsorship deal, but this week Pilgrim announced he would be riding bikes from German D2C brand Canyon from 2023 onwards.
On the new deal, he said: “Hello everyone. 2023 with Canyon is gonna be epic. It’s a dream come true. I’ll be riding the best bikes alongside the sickest team which means loads of amazing times, a bunch of sick videos coming your way and I’ll be hitting a few contests over the year, and loving every minute of it. Let’s go!”
Pilgrim, now 32, shot to prominence at 17 after winning Austria’s King of Dirt Competition. He went on to podium places at Crankworx, Dirtmasters, Red Bull Joyride and FISE.
In 2015 the Colchester, Essex-born rider switched his attention to content creation with the launch of a YouTube channel, which is now one of the biggest MTB channels in the world.
For 2023, Pilgrim will be joining Canyon CLLCTV, a community of off-road riders, racers and ambassadors.
Canyon said he will be riding a cross-section of Canyon’s off-road bikes, including the Stitched 720 and 360 jump bikes, the Spectral and Torque MTBs, along with the Spectral:ON and Torque:ON e-MTBs.
Jack Noy, Canyon’s gravity brand manager said: “It’s massively exciting news for Canyon and the CLLCTV to be working with Sam. He has a huge reputation for being an incredible rider, and his positivity and down-to-earth approach acts like a magnet to bring more people into the MTB world. We’re stoked to be able to support Sam, and we’re looking forward to 2023 and beyond.”
Read more: New year, new industry? What to expect from cycling in 2023
Sam’s first project with Canyon is planned for February 2023 with a video expected in the spring.
