The chance to ride a UCI Road World Championships in front of a home crowd is alone a rare one, but the chance that Magdeleine Vallieres has to do it with race number one pinned on the back of her jersey takes the journey to a whole new level in Montréal.
"Just getting to do the World Championships at home is already a dream, but defending my title is an even bigger one," world champion Vallieres told reporters at a media conference as the build towards the September 20 to 27 event picked up pace. "So yeah, right after [the announcement] it’s been in my head from the start. From the beginning, even before the Worlds, I was already thinking about it."
Then in Kigali the Canadian fans were given a focal point and proven contender for the third visit of the Road World Championships to their shores, after Vallieres claimed the nation's first elite title in the road race in Kigali last year. It was a second career win and instantly shot the rider from a position as a relative unknown to a key draw for the crowds and cameras as she moved through the peloton in the rainbow jersey and her timing in doing it was perfect.
"It’s the kind of thing that happens once in a lifetime – to be able to defend your title at home," said Vallieres as she looked ahead to the return of the Road World Championships to Canada for the first time since 2003. "So I’m trying to take it more as energy than pressure, and just to go with how it comes, to go all‑in and give everything. That’s my goal."
"I think it's a lot more excitement than pressure at the moment. I mean, I feel insanely lucky. It's not only luck winning it last year, it's a lot of hard work. I mean, I'm feeling already quite lucky to have had the jersey for one year, so just being able to be at home to defend it is already like something quite big."
The emotion of victory as Magdeleine Vallieres digests the victory with Canadian teammate Alison Jackson (Image credit: Getty Images)
What's more, the 25-year-old, is setting forth to defend her title with a strong team on a course that could also suit her. She won on punchy terrain in 2025, and she will be presented with more in 2026 as the 180km race with 2,502m of elevation gain, facing the Camillien-Houde climb on the eight laps of the 13.4km finishing circuit.
"The climb isn’t too long, it’s a lot of repetitions of a punch. Normally with more and more fatigue, I usually fatigue a bit less than the others, so that can be good for me," said Vallieres.
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"I mean, it always depends on how the race is ridden and the risks you take and everything. So we’ll make sure that the Canadian team rides it in a way that plays to our advantage."
Even though the course may hold some similarities to the one Vallieres won on, the circumstances certainly do not. The current world champion no longer has any chance of being able to fly under the radar.
"For sure, the strategy will be a bit different. I came in last year as an underdog, and this year, for sure I will be looked at a lot more," said Vallieres.
"I will still need to look at opportunities a bit like I did last year. I won't be let go as much. Last year it was a strong move, with a lot of strong riders in my group. I'm hoping for something a bit similar, getting away. And if not, just being aggressive is my goal. I want to give myself the best chance to defend the title."
Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.
