Magdeleine Vallieres delivered one of the biggest upsets in recent World Championships history, claiming Canada’s first-ever elite women’s road race world title with a perfectly timed attack on the final climb in Kigali. The 24-year-old from Quebec distanced Niamh Fisher-Black and Mavi García inside the final two kilometres to seal a historic victory on the steep cobbles of the Côte de Kimihurura.
Attritional race on a brutal circuit
The women faced eleven laps of a 15.1-kilometre circuit in the Rwandan capital, totalling 165 kilometres and over 3,000 metres of climbing. Each lap featured two decisive ascents, the 800-metre Côte de Kigali Golf and the 1.3-kilometre cobbled Côte de Kimihurura, which gradually eroded the peloton under the sun and altitude of the 1,500-metre-high city.
The early action was relatively calm, with Austria’s Carina Schrempf launching the first meaningful attack on lap two. She built a lead approaching three minutes while the peloton hesitated behind. Her advantage began to fall midway through the race when Blanka Vas, Shirin van Anrooij, and Julie Van de Velde all made bridging attempts, with the latter two eventually joining the Austrian at the front.
Van Anrooij briefly led solo after dropping her breakaway companions on the Côte de Kigali Golf, but her effort lasted only ten kilometres before being reeled in by a regrouping peloton. The pattern of short-lived attacks continued as Noemi Rüegg of Switzerland and Mireia Benito of Spain countered clear with around 55 kilometres remaining, establishing a small but significant move.
Photo Credit: GettyKey selection forms as favourites hesitate
Behind, the major nations began to take notice. The Italians pushed the pace, drawing out a strong chase group that would prove decisive. Riejanne Markus (Netherlands), Évita Muzic (France), Mavi García (Spain), Barbara Malcotti (Italy), Vallieres (Canada), Ginia Caluori (Switzerland), Niamh Fisher-Black (New Zealand) and Antonia Niedermaier (Germany) joined forces, catching the two leaders with less than two laps to go.
At the same time, the Dutch team’s prospects dimmed as Anna van der Breggen and Demi Vollering both struggled on the Kimihurura cobbles. Van der Breggen dropped completely, and Vollering momentarily lost contact before fighting her way back. Despite these difficulties, Markus kept the Dutch colours in the mix at the front.
The newly formed lead group built a gap of nearly two minutes as the main favourites behind, including Vollering, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Elisa Longo Borghini, Kim Le Court and Kasia Niewiadoma, failed to cooperate. Each marked the other, and the chase repeatedly stalled, a dynamic that would ultimately decide the medals.
Vallieres launches the winning move
With just over 20 kilometres remaining, the leading ten split again when García accelerated on the Côte de Kigali. Fisher-Black and Vallieres followed, leaving the rest behind. Niedermaier and Markus managed to rejoin shortly afterwards, briefly forming a group of five.
The trio of Fisher-Black, Vallieres and García renewed their attack on the penultimate climb, pulling clear once again and carrying a minute’s advantage into the final lap. Behind, Ferrand-Prévot, Longo Borghini and Vollering traded half-hearted surges, but none committed to a sustained chase.
On the final ascent of the Côte de Kimihurura, Vallieres attacked hard at the base, instantly gapping her two companions. Fisher-Black tried to hold the pace but cracked before the summit, while García settled into her rhythm to secure bronze. Vallieres crested the cobbles alone and powered through the final kilometre to the finish, claiming Canada’s first elite road race rainbow jersey by 23 seconds.
Disbelief and delight for Vallieres
“I knew I had to go on the last climb because I probably wouldn’t win a sprint against Niamh,” Vallieres said after the finish. “When I saw her starting to suffer, I just told myself to go all in. I didn’t want any regrets.”
The win marked only the second professional victory of her career, following the 2024 Trofeo Palma Femina. “It’s crazy. I can’t believe it,” she said. “We believed in this plan, and my team positioned me perfectly. I saved my energy, took a risk, and it worked. This was my dream, and it came true.”
Photo Credit: GettyFisher-Black and García complete historic podium
Fisher-Black, who became New Zealand’s first-ever elite road race medallist, praised the tactical chaos that allowed her to escape. “These big nations played the game, and I could take advantage,” she said. “When we went clear, I felt great. I tried to follow Vallieres on the final climb but she was just on another level.”
García, at 41, added another chapter to her late-blooming career with bronze. “I didn’t expect this moment,” she said. “The cobbles were so hard, but I took the right moment to attack. This is the cherry on my career.”
Favourites left frustrated
Behind, frustration reigned among the pre-race favourites. Vollering led the sprint for seventh, while Markus finished fifth for the Netherlands. Both praised their teamwork but acknowledged that the tactical stalemate in the main group doomed their chances.
“It was a weird race,” Vollering admitted. “Everyone was waiting, trying to save energy at altitude. We were all looking at each other.” Longo Borghini echoed that view: “We were stupid, just controlling each other and thinking we’d close the gap easily. The riders up front were brave and deserved it.”
Kasia Niewiadoma described the race as “passive and strange”, blaming both the heat and altitude for riders’ hesitation. “Nobody wanted to take the initiative,” she said. “We all let it happen.”
A historic day for Canada
Vallieres’ victory not only ended a 29-year medal drought for Canada in the elite women’s road race but also marked the nation’s first world title in either the men’s or women’s category. Her triumph, forged through bold timing and composure on one of the toughest courses in modern Worlds history, stands as a defining breakthrough for both the rider and her country.
2025 World Championship Women’s Road Race result
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