Quebec cyclist Vallieres Mill has chance to make Canadian history at world championships in Montreal

Canada's Magdeleine Vallieres Mill on the podium after capturing the women's road race at the world championships last year in Rwanda. (AFP via Getty Images)Social SharingFifty years after the road cycling world championships were last held in Montreal, the event is back and for the first time a Canadian will be defending the title of women’s world champion. 

It is a dream Magdeliene Vallieres Mill has been living for the past year after winning the coveted rainbow jersey, awarded to the women’s elite road-race world champion, last year in Rwanda. 

The eight-day championships will see more than 1,000 athletes, from junior to elite, representing over 75 countries, competing in 13 different events between 10 and 274 kilometres on streets in and around Montreal.

And Vallieres Mill, a 25-year-old from Sherbrooke, Que, will be centre stage for many Canadian fans when she competes in the 180-km elite women’s road race on Sept. 26.

She was just nine when she went on her first bike tour. It was summer and her dad had decided the two of them would set out on a 1,000 km ride from their home in Sherbrooke to visit her mom in Gaspisi. 

“We did over 100 kilometres on average a day, which is quite a lot when you are only nine years old… I was either going to hate it, or really love it,” Vallieres Mill said with a laugh. 

A summer bike trip with her dad soon turned to early mornings, watching the sun rise from behind her handle bars on the roads around Sherbrooke and weekends of training with her local cycling club, Club Cycliste de Sherbrooke. 

It was at the Grand Prix de Montreal, the elite one-day World Tour professional road cycling race, that Vallieres Mill started to see cycling as something more than just a sport she did after school. 

“I remember when I was young going to watch the Grand Prix de Montreal. I realized that people did this (cycling) for a living,” she said. “In my head I was still like, it’s only men, for me it’s not something that is possible but it’s nice to watch.” 

Vallieres Mill and her father used to ride more than 100 kilometres when she was nine, which instilled in her a love for the sport. (Submitted by Magdeleine Vallieres Mill)Heading into last year’s world championships in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, Vallieres Mill was a wild card. She made the journey to Africa as an unranked athlete with a single professional win under her belt. 

With the help of her Team Canada teammates, Vallieres Mill slowly weaved her way through the top female riders in the world. While her teammates blocked the elements and efforts from other riders, Vallieres Mill gained momentum until she pulled off what many of her competitors did not expect. 

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The Quebecoise exploded out of the front group of riders on the final climb, the pain visible on her face and her eyes laser focused on the winding roads of the Kimihurura climb. Under a dark lush canopy of Rwandan greenery, her move went unmatched with less than two kilometres to go in the 165-km race. 

The Canadian rolled into the finish line in first place to be greeted by many of her team Canada staff and teammates. 

Although it came as a surprise to many, Canada’s first-ever world championship title wasn’t a shock for her teammates. 

Magdeleine Vallieres Mill is greeted by teammate Alison Jackson aftering capturing the world championship in Rwanda last year. (Jerome Delay/Associated Press)“Magdeliene told me she really thought she could do something special,” said teammate and former national champion Alison Jackson. “It was a big trip, and we all had to pay our own way to get there. We already had a positive atmosphere of supporting each other (in the race) but it also put pressure on Magdeleine because it showed that we believed in her.”

This was echoed by Canada’s road cycling coach Nigel Ellsay, who was coaching Vallieres Mill on the roads of Kigali.

“It was an amazing moment for Magdeleine, for the team and just to be a Canadian,” Ellsay said. 

Over her past five seasons as a professional rider, Vallieres Mill has ridden in some of women road cycling’s most prestigious races, such as the Tour de France Femmes, Giro Donne and La Vuelta Femenina. 

This year Vallieres Mill has placed in the top 10 in three of the most prestigious one-day pro races, but her recent success hasn’t come without challenges. 

Vallieres Mill celebrates her victory in 2025. (Jerome Delay/Associated Press)Vallieres Mill, like most professional cyclists, is used to long days and strict schedules. She said she now prioritizes her health, recovery and routine, but it hasn’t always been that way. Following her world title win, Vallieres Mill decided to use her platform to speak out about her challenges with her endocrinological health. 

“I didn’t know that I needed to eat so much on and off the bike. When I was younger I had no clue how to deal with it. Your body starts to shut down and you can lose your period. That is what happened to me,” Vallieres Mill said.  

Vallieres Mill said that it was something that she pushed aside until her nutritionist on her professional team, EF-Education-Oatly, brought it to light. Prior to joining the team she had not had her period since entering a development athlete program. Vallieres Mill said she chalked it up to her being an endurance athlete and that her menstrual cycle wasn’t something discussed on her past teams. 

She said reframing how she thought about her period, nutrition and recovery has been key to her success. When asked why she decided to speak so openly about her health challenges after winning the championship title, her answer was simple. 

“It is only knowledge that I was missing. I hope more young riders and athletes starting out know that you need to fuel your body for the work you do to avoid the same mistakes that I made,” Vallieres Mill said. 

To be able to work as a professional cyclist and turn her passion for the sport into a career, Vallieres Mill had to move as a teenager, first to Switzerland to train with the UCI development team, then with professional teams in Spain and now in Andorra where she lives. 

Having to adjust to cultures, teammates, coaches and languages while having to focus on competing and training was a lot for her to deal with. 

“When I first moved, I lived in an apartment with no hot water for four months. I didn’t speak Spanish at the time, it was a big step. You start from zero, it’s like becoming an adult but quick,” she said with a laugh. 

Jackson, a veteran in the cycling world and winner of the prestigious Paris-Roubaix race, said the experience Vallieres Mill had getting started is common. 

She said that with not as many professional riders coming from Canada as European nations, you have to be smart not only on the bike, but also off the bike, which is something she said Vallieres Mill excels at. 

“There’s a lot of difficult steps when you make the jump over,” Jackson said. “When I moved I relied heavily on my national teammates who had already made the move over for help.”

Jackson said she first remembers when Valieres Mill joined the team EF Education-Oatley team.

“She rode up beside me and just said, ‘My coach said I should follow you.’ Now to see her with the confidence she has, you have to get behind that,” Jackson said.  

Vallieres Mill said she hopes Canada hosting the world championships will mean more support for young athletes who are trying to make it in professional cycling.

She said although things are slowly getting better for younger athletes and that the more Canadians start to be able to race in elite races and get signed to professional teams, the better the network becomes for new athletes. 

“We cannot skip from zero to one hundred, but hopefully we can see some more races in Canada to show young riders that it is possible. We need to try to make the gap between Canada and Europe a little easier for Canadians,” Vallieres Mill said. 

Ellsay said Vallieres Mill’s willingness to give back is something that makes her a pleasure to work with.

“Everyone loves working with her because she is really a team player and is constantly trying to get the most out of herself and the people around her. She doesn’t usually get to race for herself, it was extra special that she was the rider that won in Kigali,” Ellsay said. 

Vallieres Mill said she is hoping having some of the best female professional cyclists in Montreal gives a new generation something to look toward. 

“I hope that young riders can come watch the Worlds and see that it is possible. We’re coming from Canada and we’re going to be competing against the best. I’m hoping they can see that they can get on a bike too.”

It’s clear that for Vallieres Mill the iconic rainbow jersey is more than the prestige. 

“It’s always been a dream to wear this jersey, every time I get to wear it, it’s special. It means a lot in the sport and to wear it, is a moment that is shared together, having worlds at home will be the biggest moment for it. To have been able to wear it is an honour.

“I think winning on home soil would be the best thing that could ever happen. There would be no words for it. It was already a dream to win it once, but winning it a second time at home would be unforgettable.”

The race doesn’t come without pressure. 

“I have a bit more of a target on my back," she said. "I used to be more incognito, now I have to be as strong as I can be. I have to be in the best shape possible. I will try to take a risk, but still I’m a bit nervous.” 

When asked what she will be thinking about as she clips into her pedals in Montreal with the Canadian flag across her chest, she said one simple thing. 

“I don’t want to have any regrets, I want to give it my all. I want to finish having tried in every way I can. So that’s what I’m going to do.” 

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