Results World Championships women's road race | SHOCK in Kigali! Magdeleine Vallieres is the new world champion after incredible attack and favourites' stalemate
Cycling
The women's road race at the Rwanda World Championships had it all! Drama, action, tactics and lots of surprise all the way to the finish. The race was extremely tactical and the main favourites saw the victory escape from their hands. And from a talented group that battled for victory, we've got a shock winner and new rainbow jersey in Canada's Magdeleine Vallieres, who took only the second win of her career.
The breakaway of the day was only formed by one rider as Carina Schrempf of Austria wasn't followed early on, and had the spotlight on her for a few hours before the action really began. With 100 kilometers to go however this would already begin with Spain and the Netherlands pushing the pace with a few attacks, trying to use their depth.
The Dutch were specially active, although one of their leaders Anna van der Breggen did not have the legs and would not be in contention for a top result. With 76 kilometers to go the Belgian Julie van de Velde linked up with Schrempf up front and Shirin van Anrooij also joined in; Whilst Mireia Benito and Noemi Ruëgg then took the head of the race as the race began to grow a very strong tactical aspect. The main favourites did not want to attack too early and this saw many go up the road whilst the main group became uncontrollable.
Entering the final lap we had the unlikely leading group of Riejanne Markus, Niamh Fisher-Black, Mavi García, Antonia Niedermaier and Magdaleine Vallieres. Crossing the finish line behind, in a group that at a certain point had 1:40 minutes of disadvantage, Marlen Reusser attacked, and from behind later on Kim Le Court bridged across with Elise Chabbey whilst several groups were caught and dropped in the process. The group of Ferrand-Prévot, Longo Borghini, Niewiadoma and Vollering behind lost time and then these four looked the strongest in the penultimate climb of the day.
Read also
On the same climb García, Fisher-Black and Vallieres dropped the other two in front whilst Chabbey dropped Le Court and even Reusser who looked to be the strongest. 20 seconds back to Chabbey and 40 back to the main group where Barbara Malcotti's work provided the big faourites with some hope... Until for no apparent reason the group let her go on a flat road and stopped again on its tracks fully.
The less known name of the front trio, Vallieres, entered the final cobbled climb in the front of the group immediately attacking from the bottom and going solo off the front. The 24-year old was truly unmatched and rode to a world title after starting the race as a rider that was not even in most fans' outsider list.
Niamh Fisher-Black secured the silver medal whilst Mavi García held on to finish third on the day at 41 years of age. Elise Chabbey was the best of the rest, finishing fourth as the leading figure from the chasing group.

Félix SernaCycling Journalist
Félix Serna is a writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2025. He covers professional cycling across both the men’s and women’s calendars, with a focus on UCI rankings, race developments, and rider performance. His work includes interview-based reports, liveblogs, and tournament coverage designed to provide clear, accurate context throughout the season.
In his reporting, Félix regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical reference. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- I think Jonas would have lost the TDF by 4+ minutes (at the least) and might not have even been in the top 3. Too much talent in the younger riders to say anyone not named Pogačar would have been top 3md197503-11-2026
- this is just stupid. you already have 23%, gravel is over the topabstractengineer03-11-2026
- There was once a time when Lance was supremely popular and he used his artificial "It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life" persona to lead his mob in going after Greg. There was no one Lance did not abuse in protecting his phony hero image. Lance promoted himself as a divine megastar and he let down millions of cancer victims and gullible devotees who clung far too long to the charade. Lance is the epitome of a corrupt person and because of his power, many around him, including business enterprises, succumbed to the evil. All who got in Armstrong's way were mercilessly attacked by him and his minions. This remarkably continues today with a new generation. LeMond was a number one enemy and paid a huge price. Who do you think slandered who?Yepperoni03-11-2026
- You despise him because he calls out the truth....OK clown !frieders303-11-2026
- JV is really slighting himself with not doing the 1 dayers.. 🤷
leedorney02-11-2026 - Watch the interview on youtube. I don't speak French. I do speak English and Spanish and you can hear it in his voice. Years ago LeMond had real personal problems I imagine in no small part because of Armstrong. then Armstrong goes round "full blast" re: LeMond having drinking and drug problems. The same way Andreu was expelled from mainstream cycling so was LeMond. On the positive side the clips of the ride and chatting with old teammates and was good. To seemed like a fun day and experience and good reason brush up his French.atom02-11-2026
- and another no-news article around the ‚2 tokyo jogging rounds‘ headline, this time spiced with some days old ‚news‘ that the LA and japan vacation trips come during or after the tdf route release. i am getting more and more annoyed by this time-stealing no-news crap. but who am i to complain? nobody forces me to come back for more ‚news‘ day after day …Ketterechts02-11-2026
- It would likely be a very steep section of 4.1 km, not changing the average gradient considerably, with the climb remaining 10.1 km at 11.8%. It would reach 20% on the gravel. It would start 1.6 km in, and finish with 4.2 km left to climb (before the short final descent)
Rafionain-Glas02-11-2026 - Welcome to the off-season.
santiagobenites02-11-2026 - guillaume martin in this list is quite a surprise as a gc rider.Ketterechts02-11-2026
Loading
11 Comments






