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.
Magdeleine Vallieres wins 2025 UCI World Championship road race (credit: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
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.
Magdeleine Vallieres wins 2025 UCI World Championship road race (credit: Chris Auld/SWpix.com)
At the finish, Vallieres understandably appeared stunned by her own achievement, EF and Canada teammate Alison Jackson on hand to get the party started.
Magdeleine Vallieres wins 2025 UCI World Championship road race (credit: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
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.
Magdeleine Vallieres wins 2025 UCI World Championship road race (credit: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
“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!”