Most people catapulted from relative obscurity into the spotlight would struggle to come to terms with their newfound status, and recently crowned world champion Magdeleine Vallieres is no different.
In a wide ranging get-to-know-you question and answer session published on her EF Education-Oatly team website, the Canadian rider admits to being slightly nonplussed by her celebrity, but shows her competitive spirit, targeting success at next spring’s Ardennes races.
“It is really weird. I'm not used to it at all,” she says. “I’m trying to hide a little bit because I feel a bit weird. I don't really understand it. I'm the same as I always was. It is special, but I'm not used to having all this attention. I didn’t realise it would be such a big thing.
Latest Videos From
“From Canada, I've had a lot of really nice messages, especially from the young riders, saying that they're excited and now see that it's possible to win races like worlds. I think this is the biggest thing. I didn't realise how much of an impact this could have on others, helping people believe in themselves. That is one of the things I'm the most proud of: that it is possible to inspire people to believe that they can really do it.”
While some may have known little about Vallieres before her Worlds victory, over the years she has quietly established herself as an excellent rider for hilly races, often working for others, but able to hang with the leading group on hilly days. Indeed, not only did she bag two top 10 finishes wearing the rainbow jersey in hilly late-season Italian races, her only other race win was on a lumpy finish at the 2024 Trofeo Palma Femina.
It is this ability and the increased confidence her success will give that have dictated her main targets for next year. “I want to win one of the Ardennes Classics,” she said. She has improved each year she has raced the three events which close the spring campaign, and Flèche Wallonne would seem to be her best chance, as she was 14th there this year.
Vallieres also reveals her thoughts as she approached her biggest win to date, and they’re probably not too dissimilar from those all of us watching would have had.
“I was thinking, “I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.” I saw 500 metres to go, and then it started to feel a little bit more real, but also not so real. The last 500 metres felt long. The road went slightly up to the top. I thought, “Now, I guess I need to celebrate. But are they just right there? Do I have time?”
“I was thinking about Kristen’s [Faulkner] win at the Olympics, when she just went through and didn't do anything, because she was so focused. So, I was like, “Okay, I need to do something.” I didn't think. I just lifted my arms. And then, because I was so in disbelief that it really happened, I think I just had a lot of emotion. Alison [Jackson] told me afterwards that my celebration was good, so I was like, “Okay, I'm good. It's fine. It was a good celebration.”
Other gems in the team interview are who she'd like to see in concert: Charlotte Cardin, a Québecoise singer. Her favourite author: Lucinda Reilly. Her favourite café order: cappuccino. And her favourite piece of clothing? Her rainbow jersey, of course.
