When Magdeleine Vallieres rode clear in Kigali last September to claim Canada’s first elite women’s road race rainbow jersey, the impact was immediate and far-reaching. Thousands of kilometres away in Richmond, British Columbia, Nadia Gontova watched the decisive moment unfold on a livestream, sidelined but deeply affected by what she was seeing.

Gontova had been selected for the Canadian team at the UCI Road World Championships, ready to support Vallieres on the demanding 15.1 km Kigali city circuit. Instead, she was at home recovering from iliac artery surgery, following the race from afar as Vallieres launched her winning break and soloed to the line over the cobbled Côte de Kimihurura.

Speaking to CyclingNews in a phone interview, Gontova described the moment candidly.

“I don’t know her well, and I was watching it live, and I think I cried,” she said. “I was emotional to see that it’s possible.”

What struck Gontova most was not only the scale of the result, but the way it was achieved. Vallieres had built her reputation as a relentless worker in the peloton rather than a perennial favourite, and her attack in Kigali challenged many assumptions about how world titles are won.

“I see her in races in the peloton; she’s always such a hard worker for her team, and I think she’s such a well-deserving champion,” Gontova told CyclingNews. “It’s pretty incredible just to see that it’s possible. You don’t need to be one of the big favourites to go and win a big race.”

That performance has become a reference point as Gontova prepares for her own next step, moving up to the Women’s WorldTour with Liv AlUla Jayco in 2026. Her pathway has been steep and unconventional, beginning with local racing at Red Truck Racing before progressing through Roxo Racing, DNA Pro Cycling, and Winspace Orange Seal.

Results followed quickly. Gontova won the Redlands Bicycle Classic, finished second overall at the Tour of the Gila, and placed runner-up at the Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées. In 2025, she impressed in mountainous Spanish races before delivering a decisive breakthrough at the Tour de France Femmes, finishing 10th on the final stage to Châtel and 23rd overall. That showing prompted interest from multiple top-tier programmes.

Ultimately, she opted for Liv AlUla Jayco because of the breadth of opportunities on offer rather than a narrowly defined role.

“I spoke to Jayco, it seemed like it would be a really good fit,” she explained. “The team knows I’m a climber, so I’m happy to race anything and do different races.”

While proud of her Tour de France Femmes debut, Gontova is keen to return with greater consistency. “The Tour was an incredible race, but I definitely had a difficult Tour in a lot of ways. I would really love to go back and hopefully have a bit of a smoother week,” she said.

Her immediate focus, however, remains recovery. Gontova is still returning from iliac artery surgery and will miss the early part of the 2026 season, with a likely debut for Liv AlUla Jayco pencilled in ahead of the Ardennes Classics in April.

Looking further ahead, another major objective looms. The UCI Road World Championships will be held in Montréal in September, on a circuit centred around Mount Royal. A place on the Canadian team would mean racing on home soil, alongside the defending world champion.

“I would really, really love to go,” Gontova said. “It’s a big goal for my next season to make the Worlds team, have a good ride there, and be able to contribute.”

Vallieres’ Kigali victory continues to resonate as Gontova shapes her ambitions. Even if world championship courses do not always favour pure climbers, the lesson she took from that race remains clear.

“It’s a reminder to not ever count yourself out,” she said. “Seeing that win was inspiring, and hopefully it’s inspiring for a lot of other Canadians as well.”