Canadian cyclist Vallieres Mill exits women's elite road race at worlds after crash during title defence

Canadian cyclist Magdeleine Vallieres Mill's hopes of repeating as world champion ended Saturday after suffering a crash during the women's elite road race in Montreal.

Vallieres Mill, from Sherbrooke, Que., was involved a large crash that brought down several riders with 94 kilometres to go in the 180.1km race.

The 25-year-old got back on her bike with a badly scraped right thigh and resumed the race, with teammate Adele Normand pacing her as they tried to close the gap on the lead group. But Vallieres Mill was several minutes behind and ultimately pulled out with 60km remaining.

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The UCI Road Cycling World Championships is one of the only professional road cycling races outside of the Olympic Games where athletes line up for their nations instead of their professional teams.

The event features 1,000 athletes from more than 75 countries. CBC Sports and CBC Gem has full coverage of the event.

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Competition continues through Sunday in Montreal, which last hosted the world championships in 1974. It was the first time the event was held outside Europe.

This year’s event is part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.