Canadian rider Alison Jackson added a stunning Paris-Roubaix victory to her story of going from picking rocks from a farm to becoming a champion with EF Education-Tibco-SVB. The win, Jackson’s first in a cobbled Classic, is even more remarkable given the adverse conditions she had to overcome – from a crash before the Flandrian Classics to the muddy and wet cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix. With grit and determination, Jackson evoked memories of her days on the farm as she didn’t give up the fight and celebrated her win clutching the Paris-Roubaix cobblestone trophy.
Jackson was part of an 18-woman breakaway that gained an astounding six minutes on the peloton at one point. The Canadian rider appeared safe when a crash in the chase group put the brakes on the chase, though a resurgent group rose to almost within touching distance of the break before Jackson issued her decisive attack in the final kilometres and won the day’s contest.
EF Education-Tibco-SVB is a professional women’s cycling team based in the USA, which Jackson rejoined at the start of the year. Supported by a passionate and dedicated staff, the team boast past world and national time trial, road, crit and track champions and are currently training for the Giro de Italia Internazionale Femminile.
As for Alison Jackson, the ‘picking rocks’ farmer’s daughter, her only World Tour-level win has been an incredible ‘full circle’ moment. The former Canadian road and time trial titles holder, who broke away to win the Simac Ladies Tour stage in 2020, is now a firm favourite in the cycling world and is looking forward to her next big race. Jackson had a unique way of celebrating her Paris-Roubaix win by adding the cobblestone trophy to her nephews’ rock collection, which had been there since her childhood on the farm in rural Alberta.
