At 8 years old, Magdeleine Vallières Mill received a bicycle from her father at Christmas. He made her an offer for the following summer: we’ll go visit your mother by bike. They live in Sherbrooke. She lives in Carleton-sur-Mer, in Gaspésie.
“It’s 1000 kilometres. We left with our luggage when I was 9 and we got there in nine days. That’s how I got the bug.
“The biggest day, we rode 135 kilometers. We left the campsite in the morning around 7 a.m. and arrived at 7 a.m. in the evening. It took us all day, but it’s really beautiful memories that I keep with my father. I recommend any parent to do this with their child. »
Ten years later, Magdeleine Vallières Mill tells this anecdote from the camper of the EF Education-Tibco-SVB team, who has just left Pamplona, in the Spanish Basque Country.
One hundred and thirty-five kilometers, therefore, ten less than what she has just covered as part of the classic women’s elite of Navarre. The day went wonderfully. Her American teammate Veronica Ewers won solo after dropping her three breakaway partners. Vallières Mill, she finished 11and at 3:52, his best ever result in the senior category.
“It’s also my first podium, I’m the first U23 today, it’s really cool, rejoiced the 20-year-old young woman. We had a really good team. We were three girls from EF in the group behind. It was really the perfect scenario because we didn’t have to work. »
Vallières Mill is one of four Canadians and the only Quebecer to be part of a WorldTour team, a field made up of 14 teams and 157 riders.
How did she get here at such a young age? By emailing a few teams he was interested in, including Tibco Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which held a Continental (Second Division) license.
“I had seen them running. They were doing great races, they were super strong and the atmosphere seemed good. It is also an American team. It can be a little more difficult in a European team because the mentality is not the same. »
She had a telephone conversation with the managing director, the Briton Rachel Hedderman, who sent her a contract shortly afterwards. To the astonishment of the Quebecer, Education First (EF) joined the adventure and upgraded the training to the WorldTour level.
“It was a surprise. It’s really crazy! I discovered that outright when I got the contract. I took the leap! This is a very good opportunity for me. »
World Cycling Center
A child of the ball, Vallières Mill spent his high school in the sports-study program at the Triolet school in Sherbrooke. Before devoting herself to the road two years ago, she mainly practiced cyclocross and mountain biking. In 2019, she also took part in the Junior World Championships in all three disciplines.
Double national junior champion on the road, she took 10and rank of the time trial at the 2019 World Championships.
She then spent two years with the World Cycling Center team. Based in Aigle, Switzerland, this program is funded by the International Cycling Union (UCI) to help develop the sport.
With the help of Cycling Canada, she had participated in an on-site identification camp, where she had set the best time on a 20-minute climb. Hosted in a residence near the UCI headquarters, she rubbed shoulders with runners from all over the world.
It opened up a lot of perspectives on different cultures and what is happening in the world. I wouldn’t change those two years. I learned a lot.
Magdeleine Vallieres Mill
His only regret is to have run little in 2020 and 2021, in the midst of a pandemic. It is served with EF. The disease and the COVID-19 virus did not spare her teammates, which gave her several unplanned starts.
After his promising 31and place in the Strade Bianche, she took part in several great classics of the WorldTour. In the last two months, it has entered the Amstel Gold Race (90and), Paris-Roubaix (74and), the Fleche Wallonne (42and) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (63and), where she slipped into a breakaway.
Its highlights? The victory of her teammate Ewers at the last stage of the Ceratizit Festival Elsy Jacobs, in Luxembourg, last week.
“I’ve never been so excited in my life,” said Vallières Mill. It was the most special moment for the team. I was so happy! »
PHOTO FROM THE INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT @MAGDELEINEVALLIERES Magdeleine Vallières Mill during the prologue of the Ceratizit Festival Elsy Jacobs, in Luxembourg
On a personal level, she remembers her performance on the Strade Bianche, a spectacular Italian event contested partly on white “dust” roads.
“I felt very comfortable in the gravel and I had good legs. The only problem was my positioning when entering the penultimate section of gravel. I could surely do better if I went back. It motivated me to know that I was able to be in the front group and not just suffer and suffer the race. »
Magdeleine Vallières Mill is still trying to define herself as an athlete: “The team’s objective for me is above all to gain experience and discover what type of runner I am. »
From Friday to Sunday, the resident of Girona will line up in the Tour of the Basque Country, a triptych of WorldTour level. After another week of racing in Spain, she will turn her eyes to the Tour de Suisse in June and the Women’s Giro in July.
The little Christmas bike will have taken her far.
It rolls for her
As if she wasn’t busy enough, Magdeleine Vallières Mill is also co-owner of a brand new bike shop in Sherbrooke. Its name: Qui Roule. Its mandate: to offer “complete and avant-garde support for the purchase and maintenance of electric, road, gravel and mountain bikes”. His father Stéphane Vallières, former runner and expert brewer Pierre-Olivier Boily and Jonathan Gaudreault are his partners. To have news of Magdeleine on the European circuit, this is the perfect place.
