Hey all, welcome back to episode 168 of King of the Ride podcast.

I'm your host, Ted King, here in your ears, delivering you up a scorcher hot off the press.

I promised last week that we would have a world champion on the show.

So I'm very excited to introduce you to the current UCI

Road World Champion for Women's Cycling, Magdalene Vallier.

So maybe, just maybe, you're not a diehard road

cycling fan. You weren't glued to the TV from Kigali Rwanda

this September. So you could be forgiven if you don't know to the TV from Kigali Rwanda this September.

So you could be forgiven if you don't know her name.

But Magdalene, Mags, as she's affectionately called, won this title in heroic, impressive,

very, very rightful style and grace as she made first the correct breakway in the finale and then soloed off to

victory on an insanely steep pitch of the Rwandan capital city. If you haven't watched it,

I'm going to drop a link into the show notes to summarize the race, the highlights. It was

absolutely riveting. And heck, you go back and watch the whole dang thing. It was that good.

And to say maybe for the umpteenth time that has been said, her win was unexpected.

So you could be forgiven if her name is not on the very tip of your tongue because she's not, at least not yet, a prolific winner,

as this was only her second pro win ever.

And we'll dig through her young but storied history where Mags and I share a start line,

or even possibly we spent time together at the Grand Prix Montreal back in the early 20 teens,

her time getting into cycling, bike packing, some very cool connections

that she and I share.

I think you're going to dig it.

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