Friday’s pre-race action saw Sherbrooke’s Magdeleine Vallières Mill showing that she is ready for the upcoming Ardennes Classics, finishing in the mix just outside of the top 10.
FDJ United – SUEZ’s Célia Géry took her first pro dub with a perfect sprint at the Brabantse Pijl. The race only came together inside the final kilometres.
Aggressive racing from start
The 126 km course, packed with repeated climbs, encouraged lots of attacks. A strong early move featuring riders including Silvia Persico and Loes Adegeest forced the peloton to react. That group was brought back with more than 60 km still to race.
It’s Magdeleine Vallieres’ favorite time of year 🌈 Our world champ kicks off her Ardennes campaign Friday at Brabantse-Pijl 💕 pic.twitter.com/DU0cVrAoBF
— EF Education-Oatly (@EF_Oatly) April 16, 2026
Adegeest went again, this time with Anneke Dijkstra. The duo built a lead that briefly looked threatening. Their move gained real weight when Anna van der Breggen bridged across with 27 km to go, forming a dangerous trio out front.
Canadians in Belgium
Still, the race never settled. Co-operation faded on the final lap, gaps shrank, and the peloton closed in. Dijkstra was dropped, and hesitation between van der Breggen and Adegeest proved costly. They were caught just over a kilometre from the line. There was a small group sprinting for the win—including three Canadians. Vallières Mill was there, along with Lidl-Trek’s Isabella Holmgren and Minimax’s Émilie Fortin.
In the reduced bunch sprint, Géry opened early and held on, keeping ahead of Mischa Bredewold in the final metres to seal her first victory in the pro ranks. Fortin finished a solid 19th, and Holmgren, racing her second race of the year, was 24th. In the men’s race, sole Canadian Hugo Houle (Alpecin-Deceuninck) finished 27th—also in a bunch sprint.
Sunday is the Amstel Gold Race, Wednesday is Flèche Wallonne, and the following Sunday is Liège–Bastogne–Liège. And there are lots of Canucks in each race. Flobikes.com has coverage for all of the races, both men’s and women’s. Plus, Canadian Cycling Magazine has you covered it you aren’t able to tune in.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…