Magdeleine Vallieres (Canada) fended off the favourites to clinch a stunning solo surprise victory in the elite women’s road race of Kigali’s Road World Championships, blasting up the Côte de Kimihurara alone for an unexpected but utterly well-deserved gold medal.
Vallieres attacked at the foot of the daunting Kimihurara ascent from a three-rider break to claim the victory by 20 seconds over Niamh Fisher-Black (New Zealand) and 27 seconds on Mavi García (Spain).
However, after García inched her way clear on the Côte de Kigali with 22 kilometres to go and was then joined by Fisher-Black and Vallieres, the chasing groups never managed to organise themselves sufficiently to bring back the leading trio.
Vallieres, 24, had only one pro victory in her palmares, a race in the 2024 Challenge Mallorca, prior to Saturday. But once she opened up the throttle at the foot of the Kimihurara, neither García nor Fisher-Black were able to stop her from claiming the biggest one-day win of them all.
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