August 23/23 15:42 pm - Jackson & Vallieres-Mill Sign with EF Education-Cannondale

Posted by Editoress on 08/23/23
 

After the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the WorldTour women's team EF Education-TIBCO-SVB will be no more after this season. EF Education will continue to sponsor a women's squad, co-sponsored by bike manufacturer Cannondale, at the Continental level.

The team has started signing riders, and among their initial signs are Canadians Magdeleine Vallieres-Mill and Alison Jackson; both of whom currently race for the WorldTour iteration of the team.

This season, Alison Jackson has had what is arguably her best to-date, winning the iconic Paris-Roubaix race and her second national road title, as well as finishing second at the PanAm Championships in the road race and third in the time trial. She is currently 29th in the UCI world rankings.

Jackson wins Paris-Roubaix Femmes - Photo A.S.O. / Thomas Maheux

"EF Pro Cycling does such a good job with letting me be me and I love that part," Jackson says. "I can just be who I am and it's appreciated on and off the bike. I really love the brands and partners that are on board with EF Education-Cannondale. I love the storytelling that EF Pro Cycling does, like RaceTV, so there's a lot of other things that signing with this team adds to my life alongside bike racing."

"I just want us to win bike races. I think that with bold riding and good legs, it's going to be good. My personal goals will always be in the spring and I just want to take confidence from the Paris-Roubaix win to win again, ideally in some of these other classic races that I've had my eye on. I love racing and I always say I just want to be a difference-maker, so whether it's me getting to be the winner or helping a teammate to make that happen, my goal is to do something that really matters in the race."

Vallieres-Mill is in her second year on the WorldTour, after a stellar couple of years in the Junior ranks, including sweeping the national titles in 2019. In the Under-23 ranks on the WorldTour, Vallieres-Mill was second in a stage of the Watersley Womens Challenge in 2021, and this was 12th overall in the Youth Classification at the Tour de France Femmes.

"I love races like Strade Bianche and the grand tours," Vallieres-Mill says. "I like the long races because you really get to push your limits to another level going that hard every single day. I like how you can improve so much within a race, too. In stage racing, you get to apply what you've learned from the stage before and keep pressing forward."

"I've learned a lot as a rider in the WorldTour so far. If you asked me two years ago, I don't think I always had a solid understanding of the tactics or I didn't always know the best way to do my job as a support rider. Now I feel like I've gained some experience and knowledge that I can put forward to helping the team. I want to get stronger, of course, and there's still so much more I want to learn from my new teammates so that I can be the best helper."