As surprise World Championships winners go, there can be few more eyebrow-raising than Canada's new elite champion, Magdeleine Vallieres. The 24-year-old won in Kigali on Saturday after attacking on the final climb and holding off Niamh Fisher-Black and Mavi García to win by 23 seconds.

The longest pre-race odds on Vallieres stretched to 400-1, giving some indication of the strength of her outsider status. Not since part-time racer Anna Kiesenhofer won the road race at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 has a rider so unknown won such a famous event.

And that was relatively recently. In reality, major upsets like this at big events are relatively few and far between. You may like

'I don't believe it yet' - Magdeleine Vallieres in shock after becoming Canada's first ever road race world champ

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