Canadian cyclist Vallieres Mill exits women's elite road race at worlds after crash during title defence

Canadian cyclist Vallieres Mill exits women's elite road race at worlds after crash during title defence

Sherbrooke, Que., native got back on bike after large crash but pulled out 2 laps later

Canadian cyclist Magdeleine Vallieres Mill's hopes of repeating as world champion ended Saturday after suffering a crash during the women's elite road race in Montreal.

Vallieres Mill, from Sherbrooke, Que., was involved in a large crash with 15 other riders with 94 kilometres to go in the 180.1km race at the road cycling world championships.

The 25-year-old got back on her bike with a badly scraped right arm and thigh to resume the race, with teammate Adele Normand pacing her as they tried to close the gap on the lead group. But Vallieres Mill was several minutes behind and ultimately pulled out with 60km remaining, waving to the home crowd before heading to the medical tent.

Massive crash takes Canada's Magdeleine Vallieres Mill out of women's elite road race at worlds

The crash forced out several other contenders, including Mauritius' Kimberley Le Court and Spain's Paula Blasi. Sweden's Caroline Andersson was treated at the scene and ​placed in a neck brace.

Dutch favourite Demi Vollering went on to win the race in a sprint finish ahead of Poland's Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney, crossing the line with her arms outstretched after ‌four hours, 45 minutes and nine seconds of racing. Italy's Elisa Longo Borghini rounded out the podium in third.

Switzerland's Marlen Reusser was fourth ​and France's Juliette Berthet fifth.

2026 UCI Road World Championships: Women elite road race

Niewiadoma-Phinney had stayed on ​Vollering's wheel for much of the final lap, but appeared to suffer cramp after launching an early sprint on the ​uphill run-in to the finish.

"I can't believe it," said Vollering, ⁠who won the Women's Giro d'Italia in June and her ⁠second Tour de France Femmes title ‌in August.

"I truly believe that I have a dream in my heart for a reason, and I worked so hard towards this goal," she said. "It takes guts to believe in it with ⁠your whole heart and to gather a team around you with such strong girls, and they all sacrifice for you."

Sarah Van Dam of Victoria, B.C., was one of two Canadians to finish the race, placing 17th. Richmond, B.C.'s Nadia Gontova was 41st.

Vallieres Mill became the first-ever Canadian to win an elite road race world title last year after surprising the field in Rwanda.

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The UCI Road Cycling World Championships is one of the only professional road cycling races outside of the Olympic Games where athletes line up for their nations instead of their professional teams.

The event features 1,000 athletes from more than 75 countries. CBC Sports and CBC Gem has full coverage of the event.

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Competition continues through Sunday in Montreal, which last hosted the world championships in 1974. It was the first time the event was held outside Europe.

This year’s event is part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.