"Having the World Championships at home is going to be incredible": Vallieres looks forward to kick off a long season

While the male peloton will have to wait until Tuesday for their 2026 debut, women line up for the first stage of Tour Down Under in just a couple hours. And on the start will be among other big names the world champion Magdeleine Vallieres, representing EF Education-Oatly. Naturally, the Canadian is absolutely stoked to finally return to racing in the rainbow jersey, although she knows that her main goals for the season are further ahead into the year.

And so, rather than entering as a sole leader, Vallieres will be excited to be at hand for Noemi Rüegg, the defending Tour Down Under champion. "It's really special with Noémie winning the Tour Down Under," Vallieres told Cyclism'Actu about the confidence does the presence of her Swiss teammate bring her.

"We have a lot of motivation, also with my debut with the team, wearing the jersey for 2026, it's going to be a really special race. The team decided that this was the best way to start the season, in an atmosphere with a little less pressure to allow me to gradually get used to this new life with the jersey."

After the four race days in Australia (three-day Tour Down Under + One-day Classic), the provisional calendar of Vallieres remains somewhat empty, as her next known starts would be only in April at the Ardenne Classics. But it's safe to assume more racing will be added to the 24-year-old's calendar as the time progresses.

Perhaps the biggest target of the year though are the World Championships. Taking place in Vallieres' home, Canada, the national hero will be more than motivated to defend her rainbow stripes. Or at the very least leave everything on the road while doing so. Combined with a season start in January, it's shaping up to be quite a long season for Vallieres then.

But none of that eats away from her enthusiasm of having the opportunity to race in front of home crowds at the end of September in the national jersey: "Having the World Championships at home, racing in front of my family, it's going to be incredible."

"And then being able to defend my title, starting with the number one bib, that's going to be incredible. The World Championships in Montreal are definitely going to be a big goal for me," she adds.

The best race on her current calendar? Difficult to pick just one goal: "There are several great races this year, including the Ardennes Classics, the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France, there are several. I'm going to take it one race at a time."