Behind Alison Jackson’s bold moves: A look at her past, present and future

Online interviews often feel awkward and fumbling, especially when you haven’t met your subject before. But when Alison Jackson blinks onto the screen with a wide smile, it feels like we go way back. Part of this could be her viral online presence that makes her feel like the most accessible bike racer in the peloton. The kind of racer you’d want to get a meal with, and then the night would devolve into karaoke at some secret spot that she found thanks to a friend of a friend’s friend. When she puts her hand up to the camera for a virtual handshake, it’s pretty obvious that what you see online is exactly what you get in real life.

But don’t let the sunny smile fool you into thinking she’ll let you come around her in a sprint. The next thing that you notice about Jackson is that she exudes serious confidence that somehow still complements her trademark joie de vivre. Whether it’s on a start line, in a viral TikTok video or during an interview, she isn’t one to downplay her results or achievements—and she absolutely shouldn’t.

She’s also not one to downplay her excitement about a moment, which is best illustrated by her historic Paris-Roubaix win. Not only did Jackson cross the line first in the iconic velodrome, she cemented her place in the history books by dancing with absolute glee at the finish line.

photos: Gruber Images

Her confidence—like the rest of her larger-than-life personality—is made greater by the people around her and in her life. “When you can love people and pick out what makes them great and make them more free to be themselves, it amplifies,” she says. “I love that I can be quirky and when I present that, it lets other people embrace those parts of themselves.”

Today, she sits in her apartment in Girona, where many North American and European pros have their home base. She just got back from an extended trip home to Canada, where—a little stereotypically, it has to be said—she played hockey and drove a Zamboni for a little rest and recovery from cycling. As one does.

While there, she spent time with childhood friends and university buddies. In Girona, she’ll shift to spending time with the friends she’s made there: a smattering of teammates and fellow expat pros, but also some local Catalan friends she’s made after living abroad as a pro cyclist for nearly a decade. She hosts dinner parties where her go-to is making fancy layered sandwiches (the secret is in the olive tapenade and in letting the sandwich sit in the fridge before serving in order to let the flavours blend). As it turns out, she really does hit up karaoke night whenever possible, which is not surprising. One of her previous teams had all the riders perform Myers-Briggs personality assessments. Jackson’s result: 99 per cent extroverted. (Her go-to karaoke song depends on her mood: “Careless Whisper” by George Michael, “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus or “Breaking Free” from High School Musical, if it’s a group situation.)