When Magdeleine Vallieres made history with a stunning breakaway victory to claim Canada's first elite road race rainbow jersey in Kigali last September, it sent a ripple effect that reached thousands of kilometres to her nation's west coast, Richmond, British Columbia, where rising talent Nadia Gontova watched in tears, already aspiring to follow in her wheel path.
Gontova was supposed to be on the start line in Kigali with the Canadian team to support Vallieres, but was sidelined in her recovery from iliac artery surgery. She watched the live streaming of the race, instead, and the finish over the top of the cobbled Côte de Kimihurura on the challenging 15.1km city circuit, with Vallieres solo and crossing the line with the win.
"I don't know her well, and I was watching it live, and I think I like, I cried. I was emotional to see that it's possible," Gontova told Cyclingnews in a phone interview.
"I see her in races in the peloton; she's always such a hard worker for her team, and I think she's such a well-deserving champion. It's pretty incredible just to see that it's possible. You don't need to be one of the big favourites to go and win a big race ... yeah, that's cool."
Gontova has taken inspiration from Vallieres' triumph as she makes her own step up to the WorldTour with Liv-Jayco-AlUla in 2026, after a steep trajectory that saw her racing with local team Red Truck Racing, which led to opportunities with Roxo Racing, DNA Pro Cycling and Winspace.
Gontova had won the longstanding Redlands Classic, finished runner-up at the Tour of the Gila, and placed second at the Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées.
She performed well in mountainous terrain in the early-season Spanish races in 2025, but it was her success at the Tour de France Femmes, where she finished 10th on the final stage to Chatel and 23rd overall, that led to multiple contract offers from top-tier programmes.
She ultimately decided to accept a deal with Liv-Jayco-AlUla because she felt it was a team of all-rounders with more opportunities to develop in a wide range of races. "I spoke to Jayco, it seemed like it would be a really good fit," she said.
"The team knows I'm a climber, so I think I'm happy to race anything, and I'm happy to do different races, but the Tour was an incredible race. I'm really proud of how I was able to race it, but I definitely had a difficult Tour in a lot of ways. So I would really love to go back and hopefully have a bit of a smoother week," she said.
"I'm pretty new to the peloton, though, so I think it's good to be able to have different experiences; both working for a team and having some different kinds of opportunities rather than just joining a team where they're looking for something really specific."
Gontova is still recovering from Iliac artery surgery and will miss the early-season racing, but anticipates making her debut with Liv-Jayco-AlUla before the Ardennes Classics in April.
After a first full season on the WorldTour, she is also hoping to secure a place on the Canadian team at the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal in September - a course routed around the famed Mount Royal.
"I would really, really love to go. It's definitely a big goal for my next season to make the World's team, have a good ride there, and be able to contribute to the team," Gontova said.
She would be lining up on home soil and racing for the team of the defending champion, and said it would be "a pretty cool team to be a part of", also noting that Vallieres' victory is a reminder to "not ever count yourself out" even if the course might not specifically suit her skillset.
"Maybe being more of a climber, World Championship courses don't suit me because they don't often have super long climbs, but [Vallieres' victory at Worlds] is just inspiring and pretty cool to see, and hopefully inspiring for a lot of other Canadians as well."
