Some shocking news about several Canadian women who will be ditching the red and white of Canada for the blue, brown, yellow and red of Belgium.
The news had been rumours until an email from Cycling Canada confirmed that three Canadians were switching their licences in a last-gasp attempt to race the Montreal road worlds.
It’s basically unprecedented for a rider to do so mid-season, but apparently the UCI has granted an exemption due to extenuating circumstances. The situation? There are too many strong Canadians racing in the women’s pro peloton.
The ol’ switcheroo
It’s not totally uncommon for an athlete to “swap” countries in order to make the team for major events. At the recent 2026 Winter Olympics, there were nine Canadian-born players, two U.S. players and one Swedish player competing for the Squadra Azzurra. Recently in cycling, we’ve seen a few cases at home.
Jonas Walton, son of Brian and Dana, and a dual citizen, originally began racing with a U.S. licence, even becoming national champion and breaking the U.S. hour record as a junior. However, in 2023, he moved over to a Canadian one. Since then he’s ridden with the national team, even getting an impressive sixth at the road worlds in 2025.
How do you say “elbows up” in Flemish?
A year later, the inverse occurred when Ashlin Barry, now riding for Visma – Lease a Bike, swapped his Canadian licence for an American one. Barry, also a dual citizen, son of Dede and Michael, raced for the Canadian national team, snagging several championships too. However, over the past few years he’s been racing for USA Cycling, as well as becoming a multiple American national champ.
Although the three riders have not been named, Cycling Canada’s Kris Westwood said he was aware who they were. He said it has still been under wraps as the UCI originally was not willing to grant the early-season licence change.
“The three women all approached us in February, saying they were very sorry but they didn’t think that racing with a Canadian licence was any longer feasible, due to the depth of talent in the women’s fields,” Westwood said.
It’s definitely true, Canadian women have been absolutely killing it recently. Canada crowned its first ever elite world champion in Rwanda in September through Magdeleine Vallières Mill. Alison Jackson won Paris-Roubaix, Isabella Holmgren is a multiple world champion and winner of the Tour de l’Avenir, just to name a few.
“It’s a pity to lose these talented women, but maybe in some weird way we can take it as a compliment to the depth of talent in cycling right now,” Westwood said. He added that one of the women was bummed to not be able to race in Montreal in red and white, but that the blue jersey of Belgium “kinda looks like the old national team jersey.”
Some big news to start the month of April.