'It's crazy' - Vallieres announces herself with surprise rainbow jersey

The scene was set for a clash between the collective might of the Netherlands and France in the elite women’s road race at the World Championships in Kigali, but instead it was Magdeleine Vallieres (Canada) who emerged as a surprising but worthy winner.

Perhaps not since Oscar Freire at the 1999 Worlds in Verona has an elite road race produced such an unexpected rainbow jersey. Like the Spaniard, Vallieres had won just one race as a pro prior that this triumph, last year’s Trofeo Palma Femina. 

And just like Freire, Vallieres didn’t have a flicker of imposter syndrome when she found herself in a position to become world champion on the final lap, as she dropped Niamh Fisher-Black (New Zealand) and Mavi García (Spain) on the cobbled climb of Côte de Kimihurura with 2.5km to go.

“The girls believed in me, so I believed in myself,” Vallieres said. “We really committed to going for it. I prepared well, I knew I was on good form. I tried and I told myself I didn’t want to have any regrets – and I don’t.”

The demanding Kigali course seemed tailormade for a duel between Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France) and Demi Vollering (Netherlands), but the favourites allowed the race to escape their control when a group of ten riders forged clear with a little over two laps to go.

Every time the road climbed thereafter, Vallieres, Fisher-Black and García proved themselves the strongest riders in the move, and they definitively pressed ahead on the Côte de Kigali Golf on the final lap.

Fisher-Black, in particular, had impressed on the climbs, but Vallieres had measured her effort smartly on the demanding course. By the final time up the Côte de Kimihurura, it was clear that the leading trio would take the medals, but Vallieres went all-in for the rainbow jersey.

“I knew I probably wouldn’t win in a sprint against Niamh because she’s so strong,” Vallieres said. “We were both really committed to this break, working so hard, and then I saw that she was fading a little bit, and I told myself I just have to go all-in now, try something and it worked out.”

A native of Sherbrooke in Quebec, Vallieres turned professional with EF in 2022. She placed 18th in this year’s Tour de France Femmes after featuring in the break on the Col de la Madeleine stage, and she took eighth at the GP de Wallonie in her final race before the trip to Rwanda.

“I have been dreaming about if for a while now,” Vallieres said. “It was a big goal of mine, this year. I prepared well for it at altitude. With my coach, this was a big goal and with the team we focused on it. It was my dream to win it, and I guess it’s true now. It’s crazy.”

When Freire won that surprise world title 26 years ago, Cycle Sport magazine greeted his victory with a strikingly honest cover headline: “Who on earth is Oscar Freire?” The Spaniard would go on to answer that question emphatically, winning two more rainbow jerseys and enjoying a glittering career.

With the Worlds on home roads in Montreal next year, Vallieres will hope for similar. Everybody in cycling certainly knows who she is now.

“I don’t believe it yet, no, for sure not,” she smiled. “It’s great to do it here and with the Worlds next year in Montreal, it’s perfect.”