Road World Championships 2026 elite women’s road race LIVE – The battle for the rainbow jersey begins in Montreal

Tereza was apparently terrified of riding in a bunch this big, but she did race Worlds in 2021 as a junior so she’s not a complete novice.

But the countries need to enter riders to keep their qualifications for the coming years.

The same will happen in the men’s field tomorrow. Slovakia is putting a rider in who hasn’t raced in years.

2026-09-26T14:20:11.676Z

Another crash but the riders went up and riding away very quickly with 131.7km to go.

2026-09-26T14:09:03.071Z

Meanwhile, the gap to the four riders in the break is now at 2:19 with 140km to go, and the Dutch team is still controlling the front, followed by France.

Tas moved through the team cars and is back in the pack.

2026-09-26T14:06:37.241Z

After going to her team car, Normand stops to quickly switch one shoe that the mechanic brought to her from the car.

Nicely done. With no team radios, she calmly went to the car to let them, and give time for the mechanic to get her shoe out of her bag in the car.

2026-09-26T14:03:20.723Z

As the peloton seems happy with the break composition, let’s hear what defending Magdeleine Vallieres Mill had to say at the start this morning.

“It [having the rainbow jersey] changed a lot. I mean, it’s been such an honour this year to be able to wear the jersey and to be able to come back here at home and with the number one with a really good team. So yeah, it’s been super special.

“We’re gonna try [to keep the title]. I think we have, yeah, a super strong team, so we’re gonna give it a go.”

2026-09-26T14:01:45.192Z

A crash takes down riders on the left side of the road. Riders going down included Adèle Normand (Canada) and Sandrine Tas (Belgium).

Normand gets up quickly and is back on her bike, while Tas had to wait for her mechanic to sort out her bike.

2026-09-26T13:59:23.849Z

The Dutch team is lined up at the front of the peloton, with some wind impacting the riders, controlling the gap, now up 1:40 to the break.

2026-09-26T13:54:48.003Z

Another rider tries to jump to the break but the Dutch team reels her back in. They don’t want to let any other rider to join the move.

2026-09-26T13:47:13.560Z

Campbell is not giving up, as she attacks once again, and more riders jump on her wheel. But the peloton doesn’t want more riders to join the four riders in the break and Campbell can’t escape.

2026-09-26T13:44:31.709Z

Tallest rider in the peloton, Teniel Campbell (Trinidad & Tobago) attacks to bridge across and that gets an immediate reaction from Alison Jackson.

Jackson seems to be trying to get into a break and the peloton, led by the Dutch team, shuts that down immediately.

2026-09-26T13:41:21.909Z

More riders jump from the peloton and make it across the 15-second gap to Rosso. The move includes Natalie Quinn (USA), Marte Berg Edseth (Norway), and Gergana Stoyanova (Bulgaria)

2026-09-26T13:36:38.245Z

Another attack by Gafinovitz with Antri Christoforou (Cyprus) jumps on, but once again, the move is shut down.

Portugal’s Beatriz Rosso counters solo, and there is no immediate reaction from the peloton

2026-09-26T13:34:28.007Z

One of the riders trying to come across to the duo was Canada’s Alison Jackson, and the move is nullified.

2026-09-26T13:33:05.465Z

Greece’s Argyro Milaki and Israel’s Rotem Gafinovitz attack out of a right-hand turn and get a small gap with 166km to go.

Six riders try to come across to the head of the race.

2026-09-26T13:22:25.894Z

Canada’s Maggie Coles-Lyster and Alison Jackson are at the front and in the middle of the peloton, controlling things for now for their teammate, defending champion Vallieres Mill.

2026-09-26T13:19:38.124Z

Lots of chatter in the peloton as they roll by fans on the side of the road.

2026-09-26T12:59:43.905Z

The 140 riders representing 57 nations, including new countries of Panama, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia are off.

They will face 2570 metres of elevation gain over the 180.4km course featuring the closing Mount Royal circuit.

2026-09-26T12:58:47.110Z

Three minutes until the start in Brossard – more on the route coming up.

It is sunny in Brossard, with cool temperatures around 12°C, but the day should warm up, as the forecast calls for a high of 23°C in Montréal.

2026-09-26T12:55:37.274Z

Along with Vallieres, Belgian leader Lotte Kopecky is the only previous World Champion lining up at the start. She won twice before, in Glasgow in 2023 and Zurich in 2024.

Speaking on Friday, Kopecky acknowledged that Demi Vollering stands out as the favourite, but said plenty of other contenders are in the mix.

2026-09-26T12:52:44.088Z

More on Vollering from Laurens ten Dam, the Dutch team coach:

“She is incredibly focused, that’s true. Two days after the Tour de France, I got the first message already from her, ‘OK, job’s not finished’. I was like, ‘OK, she’s on’,” Ten Dam told Cyclingnews on Thursday evening.

2026-09-26T12:42:44.067Z

Will Dutch racer Demi Vollering finally win a world title today? She lines up as the top favourite, having swept almost all before her this season.

2026-09-26T12:37:50.718Z

Reigning champion Magdeleine Vallieres of Canada shared her thoughts on social media on the eve of the road race.

Hi. Bonjour. Welcome to our live report on Cyclingnews for the elite women’s road race on the final weekend of the 2026 UCI World Road Championships in Montréal, Canada.