Magdeleine Vallieres is the new women’s road race world champion, the Canadian having previously only ever won one professional race but defying odds of as large as 400-1 to shock the cycling world and earn the right to wear the iconic rainbow jersey for the next 12 months.
Such was the bookies’ confidence the 24-year-old wouldn’t be in contention many had Vallieres priced up between 250 and 400-1, meaning a £10 pre-race bet on those chunky 400-1 odds would see plucky punters now collecting enough to buy one of the brand new Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71 framesets that Vallieres powered up the Côte de Kimihurura aboard.
Vallieres’ trade team is EF Education-Oatly, an eighth place on a stage of the Tour de France Femmes her biggest result of the season. Before today, the only win of her professional career came back in January 2024, an early-season victory at the UCI 1.1 Trofeo Palma.
But now Vallieres is world champion, Canada’s first ever elite road race rainbow jersey. Nobody could begrudge the victory either, the history-maker powering clear of Niamh Fisher-Black and Mavi García on the final cobbled climb to the line, the pre-race favourites left frustrated and well behind as the day was decided by brave attackers earning the right to contest the win.
Oh Canada!
A huge shock in the Women’s Elite Road Race as Magdeleine Vallieres takes the rainbow jersey in what is only her second pro win ? pic.twitter.com/64G3GqJgtY
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) September 27, 2025
Fisher-Black took silver, while García had enough left in the tank to hold off a fast-finishing Elise Chabbey for bronze. Some of the big names, including Demi Vollering, Kim Le Court and Kasia Niewiadoma, finished 1:34 down. Tour de France winner and pre-race favourite Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was as far back as 1:50 alongside Elisa Longo Borghini.
At the finish, Vallieres understandably appeared stunned by her own achievement, EF and Canada teammate Alison Jackson on hand to get the party started.
Anna Kiesenhofer’s Olympic gold in Tokyo was even more unlikely, but Vallieres’ worlds will be right up there in cycling’s greatest underdog wins for years to come too.
Everyone needs a team-mate like Alison Jackson – the ultimate hype woman ☺️ pic.twitter.com/449ynBnkDe
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) September 27, 2025
“I can’t believe it yet for sure,” she said afterwards. “It’s great to win here and with the Worlds next year in Montreal, it has been perfect. It was my dream to win it, and now it’s come true. It’s crazy.
“The girls believed in me so I believed in myself. I really committed to going for it, I prepared well and knew I was on good form, so I tried. I told myself I didn’t want to have any regrets, and I don’t.”
Summing it all up afterwards, EF-Education Oatly shared a press release celebrating their riders’ success… “Mags, you are our world champion! Thank you for showing us that dreams can come true!”
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7 thoughts on ““Race of her life”: Massive shock as 400-1 outsider Magdeleine Vallieres stuns World Championships, only her second ever professional win”
Absolutely bloody marvelous!
Absolutely bloody marvelous!
And if you wanted to find out
And if you wanted to find out about it on the BBC Sports website you had no chance!
On a great day for women’s sport there was no mention of this and even when you go to the Cycling page there is still no mention of it.
Baffling, shocking and quite sad!
And the commentary on TV was
And the commentary on TV was absolutely atrocious (perhaps bar Chris Boardman). Like a lot of football pundits, the BBC should get shot of the awful Brotherton bloke.
You need to check your maths
Not sure that bet would cover a Lab 71 frameset! Aren’t thye obscenely expensive?
How come not a single rider
How come not a single rider from the UK in the complete listing?
Jules59 wrote:
British Cycling decided that with limited resources available (especially with the added expenses and logistics of getting a squad to Africa) and no real medal prospect in the senior race (only one rider in the world top 50, Cat Ferguson, who rode the u23 race) they would focus on the u23 race for women. It wasn’t only the women’s squad that suffered in this way: no British riders were entered for the men’s elite TT and only one in the men’s u23 road race.
Every overpaid primadonna
Every overpaid primadonna sportsperson in the world should be shown those pictures and video of Alison Jackson’s joy at her teammate’s win as a reminder of what sport should be about – marvellous.