At nearly 37, former Paris-Roubaix champion and reigning Canadian national road champion Alison Jackson is nowhere close to winding down her career. Even when EF Education–Oatly informed her this spring that they would not renew her contract—news delivered the same week she won Gracia Orlová—Jackson never saw it as a sign to step away.
“I love the sport and I want to stay in the sport,” Jackson told Cycling Weekly in no uncertain terms
“I still think I can win races and I still enjoy the chaos. I’m not afraid. Sometimes when you get older, maybe you get to the point where the risk is too much or whatever, but I don’t feel that yet. So yeah, [retirement] wasn’t an option for me. Just ’cause one team says no, it doesn’t mean it has to be over.”
Her next chapter, it was announced last week, will play out in France with the UCI Women’s ProTeam St Michel–Préférence Home–Auber93, newly backed by Premier Tech, a Canadian company with deep roots in supporting cyclists from Quebec and beyond.
It was bike brand Cannondale, the sponsor of both EF Education and the new team, that introduced the idea. The brand’s encouragement intrigued her enough to consider what a new environment might offer. Meetings with St Michel’s management won her over.
“They really respect me as a rider and also what I could do for the team: helping build it and be a leader and a captain. I really thought I could squeeze a lot out of myself on this programme,” Jackson said.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Jackson is also drawn to the team’s trajectory, using fellow Canadian cyclist Simone Boilard’s development there as a promising example.
“When she was on that team, it was such a good development team for her, and they’re really like building towards something good,” she said. “I really like the idea of building up something for the next generation.”
With Jackson joining Boilard and Clara Émond, the team becomes a meaningful landing spot for Canadian talent. And having Canadian industrial-technology company Premier Tech as a key sponsor reinforces that vision.
“I’m really excited to have Premier Tech on board; they’re a company that has long been supporting Canadian cyclists and [the team]. And Canadian women [cyclists] are on the rise,” Jackson said.
“I like to think it started with Paris-Roubaix showing that we can be champions, and now we see this new generation with Magdaliene [Vallieres] as world champion. What a time to be investing in women’s cycling in Canada!”
Beyond her role as captain and mentor for the next generation of (Canadian) cyclists, Jackson still has some pretty ambitious goals of her own.
“I would still really like to win another Paris-Roubaix,” she said, acknowledging the race that transformed her career.
“The Classics are a big deal for me. I love Flanders; if I could choose a race to win, I would love to have that.”
She also hopes to add a Tour de France Femmes or Giro stage win to her palmarès, alongside the Vuelta stage victory she already has. And there are one-day races like Plouay still high on her list and, of course, defending her national champion title each year.
“Getting to wear the national champ jersey is just such an honour, and I love having that jersey,” she said.
Speaking of wearing the national colours, the home-soil World Championships in Montréal in 2026 represent a once-in-a-career moment for her and making the team selection is a priority.
“It’s going to be so special for Canadian riders. We have the reigning champion with us, and I think the atmosphere is going to be unbelievable,” she commented. “I think we’re going to pull off a great performance, so I’m really excited about that.”
And beyond that, the two-time Olympian is already looking toward Los Angeles 2028.
“I have big ambitions for LA 28,” she said, aiming to bring her experience to a North American team capable of “a top-end performance.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Some might question whether a ProTeam environment can support ambitions as big as Jackson’s, but she sees clear advantages in joining a second-division squad. With WorldTour teams facing heavier compulsory calendars next season, she expects St Michel’s more flexible programme to strike the right balance of world-class start lines and lower-tier target races where the team can “learn to win.”
“You need to learn how to win in some of these other races to know how to win a big race,” she said. “[Auber 93 is] the longest-standing French professional team; they know how to do a program outline, they know how to support their athletes and the logistics of getting to races and stuff.”
Combined with her own experience, Jackson said she’s confident the team will get good results next season.
Jackson will begin her new adventure in January with a team camp in Mallorca, followed by early-season races to help build team chemistry.
“When you move to a new team, you have to learn how to mesh,” she said. “If we can learn and grow together, make some mistakes together in a place with less pressure, that’ll be really good for the program later.”
In Jackson, the French team gains not only a wealth of racing experience and pedigree, but they are also bound to get a boost to their brand and visibility.
Jackson’s comedic social-media presence has become one of the most recognisable in the women’s peloton, giving teams and sponsors something increasingly valuable: reach, while offering fans a new “in” into the sport.
“We are in the entertainment industry, and what I love is that my presence in the sport makes it a different type of entertaining. It also allows people who are maybe not so into this classic, historic men’s racing to maybe see a little bit of themselves in it,” she said. “I’m the family connector. Everyone else can still be a fan of me, despite not knowing so much about cycling.”
“I love to show that cycling isn’t just an elite sport, so that persona itself, I think, has been really great for the sport.” And for athletes, Jackson said, it’s good to “know that they can be their unique, weird self and still get top-end performances.”
As she steps into her latest chapter, Jackson does so with a clear dedication to the next generation of Canadian cyclists while keeping her own ambitions sky-high. She may have dabbled in gravel this past year, but that popular off-ramp to retirement can wait a little longer.
“I’ll consider that for when I do decide to retire,” she said. “But I still have big ambitions.”
