Alison Jackson can start dancing again…possibly until the Paris Olympics.
A year after her surprise victory at Paris-Roubaix, a major success accompanied by dance moves that made her famous on social networks, the 35-year-old Albertan cyclist did it again by winning the second stage of the Vuelta Femenina on Monday in Moncófar, in eastern Spain.
This triumph of the EF Education-EasyPost runner risks having a decisive impact on the selection for the Paris Olympic Games. Aside from her second national title acquired in June at the Canadian Championships – an event theoretically excluded from the nomination policy – Jackson was looking for a first victory since she lifted her Roubaisian pavement in 2023.
“I had a bit of a disappointing spring and I really wanted to have another good race by returning to Roubaix (27e), but you can only control what you can control,” Jackson admitted a few minutes after the 10e victory of his career. “The team works better and better together as the season progresses. »
Jackson was able to avoid two major falls in the last three kilometers to isolate himself at the front with four competitors, chasing Serbian champion Jelena Eric (Movistar). After a general regrouping at the flame rouge, the Canadian champion wisely waited for the return of her American teammate Kristen Faulkner, who took the lead from 500 to 200 meters from the finish.
At the end of a furious sprint, Jackson crossed the line in front of the Hungarian champion Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) and the Dutch Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team Emirates). After carelessly putting down her red and white Cannondale, she jumped into the arms of her teammates, screaming. She then performed a few moves that will delight her more than 100,000 followers on Instagram on this International Dance Day.
Magdeleine Vallières-Mill arrived a few minutes later, still shaken after having hit the wet bitumen hard on a fall in a roundabout two kilometers from the wire.
“The roads are quite slippery when it rains here, I couldn’t do anything, it just slipped,” lamented the cyclist from Sherbrooke, who took half a dozen runners with her, including one who passed by over a guardrail, tumbling apparently without gravity. Jackson took advantage of the fact that a competitor was between her and her teammate, which allowed her to narrowly avoid her.
“Often, when the roads are wet, it hurts a little less,” assured Vallières-Mill. However, she was experiencing slight pain in her back and neck and planned to have herself checked out by the doctor when she returned to the hotel. “I was lucky, I guess. »
Slowed down by another fall at the 3 km sign, Clara Émond, the other Quebecer from EF Education, still reached the line at the same time as Vallières-Mill. On the restart, the athlete from Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges did not seem to have fallen violently. Now, she was holding her left arm, looking in pain as she got out of the saddle. “We don’t really know if she broke her arm, she has to go for x-rays,” said Vallières-Mill.
At the end of the day, Émond sent this clarification in a message: “I fell in the last kilometer and unfortunately I have a broken elbow. I won’t be able to continue. »
While a caregiver prepared to lead Émond to the medical car, Jackson spent a moment chatting with Vallières-Mill while holding his neck. The latter was responsible for protecting it during this 118.3 km stage which had only one difficulty, a third category pass two-thirds of the way.
“My role was to stay with her all day. On this course, if everything went well, we believed in it. I knew she was in a good position before I fell. She thanked me and told me I had made good decisions during the day. »
Olivia Baril (Movistar) was also a victim of the slippery road in the last kilometers. “I’m OK, just a little sore,” she said in a message. Earlier in the stage, the Rouynorandienne contributed to the pursuit work to catch up with a small group of breakaways.
With less than a month to go before the end of the selection process, Baril still seems the Canadian cyclist best placed to score one of the two lilacs available for the Paris Olympics. Her qualities in time trials, an event for which Canada has a quota, make her an essential candidate.
Jackson has just taken a serious option on the second Olympic ticket, especially since Simone Boilard, the other strongest contender, is absent from the Vuelta. The Limoilou runner is starting a three-week altitude training course in the Maritime Alps in preparation for the second half of the season.
reference: www.lapresse.ca