A formative year for cycling world champion Vallières Mill

One month before the world road cycling championships on home soil in Montreal, Magdeleine Vallières Mill is training at altitude in Andorra, her second home.

The 25-year-old from Sherbrooke, Que., didn’t waste any time getting back on her bike, having worn her rainbow jersey at the Tour de France Femmes just 10 days ago.

That’s the reality of being a world champion. As prestigious as it is, the jersey featuring the colours of the five continents comes with its share of responsibilities and pressure.

After winning the iconic race last year in Rwanda, Vallières Mill began the 2026 season in Australia, where she helped EF Education–Oatly teammate Noemi Rüegg win the Tour Down Under.

She then finished top 10 in prestigious one-day races such as Strade Bianche, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and followed that with the Tour of the Basque Country, the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.

To finish her rainbow year, she’ll race in the Tour de Gatineau before defending her title at the world championships.

“It’s coming to an end, but it was really special,” she said in an interview. “There’s a lot more pressure that comes with the jersey. I felt it at the Tour de France, but I still loved the experience.

“I didn’t expect to have this in my career, so I tried to make the most of it,” she added. “It’s a great honour to wear it and I hope I was able to do it justice.”

In addition to competing in several top-level races over the past 11 months, Vallières Mill has been a proud ambassador of the jersey in the cycling world and among fans.

“I’ve become a lot more well-known with this jersey, that’s for sure,” she said. “At first, I didn’t really like it, there were a lot of interviews and attention. It was a big change for me, but I got used to it and now I’m having more fun with it.

“I’m happy to have seen an evolution and I hope I can continue to grow over the next few years, with or without the jersey,” she added. “I want to keep reaching new heights.”

When Vallières Mill says “with or without the jersey,” it’s because she firmly believes she could wear it for a second straight year. After all, the Montreal course suits her perfectly, because it’s just as selective as the one in the Rwandan capital of Kigali.

“I’ll do everything I can to keep it, even though it will be difficult,” she said. “I’ll be at home, so I’ll give everything I have with my Canadian teammates to try to defend it. The goal is to be there until the end.”

A tough Tour de France Femmes

There is no better showcase in cycling than the Tour de France, and Vallières Mill did not go unnoticed during the nine-stage race.

She was seen at the front of the peloton several times and also made a breakaway during the fifth stage. She also helped EF Education–Oatly teammate Cédrine Kerbaol finish sixth overall in the general classification, won by Demi Vollering.

“We really had a good Tour, I’d never seen such great team chemistry before,” Vallières Mill said. “All the girls worked well together, we always had a girl in the top 10 and Cédrine almost won the sixth stage.

“Of course we were hoping for a little better in the overall standings, but the fifth stage was a little more difficult for Cédrine. Other than that, it went really well. It was a really difficult Tour, it was really hot and the level was still very high.”

That fifth stage did indeed cost Kerbaol a spot in the top five. She fell from third to ninth in the overall standings at that point.

Vallières Mill had targeted that stage as a possible win and was part of the breakaway, but Vollering and her team decided to step on the gas over the final 30 kilometres.

“The peloton picked up the pace and the favourites caught us, but Cédrine dropped back, so I waited on the final climb to try to help her lose as little time as possible,” she said.

“But it was still fun to be in the breakaway on one of the hardest stages of the Tour. I was happy even though we didn’t make it to the end. At least we tried.”

That perseverance defined Vallières Mill’s Tour de France Femmes, and it will undoubtedly define her world championships in Montreal, whether or not she successfully defends her jersey.