Pre-race favorites miss the key moves before 24-year-old Vallieres attacks out of three-rider group to become Canada’s first elite world champion.
(Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images )
Updated September 27, 2025 09:08AM
Magdeleine Vallieres stunned the world by becoming Canada’s first elite world champion Saturday.
Vallieres kicked out of a group of three at the base of the cobbled Côte de Kimihurura around 2km from the line and fended off the chase for sensational, unforecasted, elite women’s world championships victory.
Niamh Fisher Black (New Zealand) chased hard but had to make do with silver. Mavi García (Spain) was last rider from the attack to cross the line for third.
Nobody even considered Vallieres ahead of Saturday’s wildly explosive, extra-tough Rwanda championships.
The 24-year-old, who races with EF Education-Oatly in the Women’s WorldTour, counted only one pro victory on her palmares before she doubled her tally in serious style Saturday in the hills of Kigali.
“I’ve been dreaming about this for a while now. Road worlds was a big goal of mine this year,” Vallieres said at the line, stunned.
“I prepared really well for it, I did altitude. With my coach, we knew this would be a big goal and then with the team, we focused on it,” she continued. “It was my dream to win it, and I guess it is true now. It’s crazy.”
Pre-race favorites Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France), Marlen Reusser (Switzerland), and Dutch pair Demi Vollering and Anna van der Breggen were caught in a group of around 25 riders when the winning attack came together.
This bunch of hitters effectively marked each other out of the race after a pack of 10 formed out of various breakaways at the start of the penultimate lap.
Reusser launched a huge chase in the final lap but ultimately ran out of road.
Results elite women’s world championship road race