The women's road race in Montréal had a storyline before a pedal was turned. Magdeleine Vallières, who won Canada's first elite road race rainbow jersey in Kigali last year, was defending it on home roads. Demi Vollering, who has won almost everything else, still didn't have one. And behind them, a field with Lotte Kopecky, Marlen Reusser and a list of riders who could all win on the right day. That's why I called it chaos. This episode is the preview: the route, the climbs, the contenders and the riders who could surprise us.
We recorded it before the race. It's been run now, so I've added how it played out at the end.
The course
180.1km, starting in Brossard on the south shore, into Montréal and then eight laps of the 13.4km Mount Royal circuit, for 2,570 metres of climbing in total. Same circuit as the men, fewer laps.
Each lap goes up Voie Camillien-Houde, 2.3km at 6.2%, then the steep pitches on Chemin de la Polytechnique, and finishes on the rising drag of Avenue du Parc. None of it is Alpine. All of it adds up. On a circuit like this, the climb doesn't decide the race the first time you ride it. It decides who's still there to contest it the eighth time.
The contenders
Vallières carries the pressure. Home crowd, defending champion, and the kind of attention that makes every move you make the one the whole race watches. Vollering is the name everyone put first in their previews, and the obvious question going in was whether anyone could stop her on a course that suits her. Kopecky, coming back to her best, has the finish for the drag to the line if it comes down to a small group. Reusser had just won the time trial that week, which tells you where her legs were.
Then there's the list of riders who could make it messy — Elisa Longo Borghini, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, Kimberley Le Court-Pienaar, the French riders. When a favourite is this strong, the others have a choice: race her together or race each other. That choice usually decides the podium.
How it played out
It was chaos early, and not the good kind. About 95km from the finish a crash brought down more than 15 riders. Vallières was one of them. She chased for a lap or two and then climbed off — the defending champion's race over well before the finale. The good news is she confirmed afterwards nothing was broken; others weren't so lucky.
Then Vollering did the thing favourites rarely risk. After a big pull from her teammate Puck Pieterse, she attacked alone with 38.5km to go. It didn't stick — Niewiadoma-Phinney and Longo Borghini got across with about 15km left. Longo Borghini went at the bell. Vollering closed her down and dropped her on the last time up Camillien-Houde. Niewiadoma-Phinney had one more go about 4km out, and it came down to a two-up sprint. Vollering led it out from the final corner, 750 metres from the line, and held on. Niewiadoma-Phinney second on the same time, Longo Borghini third at four seconds, Reusser fourth. Vollering's first world road race title.
What I love about that ride is that it's the opposite of how most of us race. She spent an effort early, got caught, and didn't panic. She still had the legs to shut down the next attack and the head to lead a sprint from a long way out. That's not just fitness. That's knowing exactly how many efforts you've got left and trusting it.
I've pulled both Worlds races together — Vollering's win and Brandon McNulty's solo the following day — with what club racers can take from each, in how McNulty and Vollering won the Montréal Worlds. The men's preview is here.
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