Magdeleine Vallieres made history with a brutally stunning breakaway victory to claim Canada’s first elite road race rainbow jersey at the UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda.
The 24-year-old Québécoise from Sherbrooke believes that her determination to take a risk led to a dream-come-true moment in her professional cycling career.
“It was my dream to win it, and it’s true now! It’s crazy!” she told the assembled media at the Kigali Convention Centre following her victory.
Vallieres formed part of a three-rider breakaway that pulled away from a reshuffling larger move on the last lap. While the field split apart behind the trio, they were roughly a minute ahead of the group, which included major favourites: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France), Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy), and Demi Vollering (Netherlands), among others.
While the favourites marked one another behind, Vallieres, along with Mavi Garcia (Spain) and Niamh Fisher-Black (New Zealand), pushed on ahead, grinding over the two major climbs: Côte de Kigali Golf and the cobbled Côte de Kimihurura on the challenging 15.1km city circuit.
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