Maggie Coles-Lyster sprinted to second place at the 127.4 km Argenta Classic – Deurne in Belgium, while Silvia Zanardi finished fifth. It marked the newly crowned Canadian champion’s fifth podium of 2026 and came on her first day wearing the Maple Leaf jersey.
Although the 27-year-old did not take the victory, she appreciates the momentum she has continued, which is still less than a year after her surgery to combat FLIA, or flow limitation in the iliac artery.
“I think it’s really cool that I can be annoyed over second places right now because hands down, this is so far my best season yet,” she said afterwards. “This is on a comeback year where my surgeon doesn’t even expect me to be at the top of my game after the end of my first full season back.”
With the route making 27 passages over rough town cobbles, it would not all be plain sailing. Efforts from Pikulik and Koops set Schweinberger up to lead the race through the final kilometer, with Coles-Lyster then launching from Zanardi’s wheel, following eventual winner Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ).
“The course was quite hectic today, and so coming into that last kilometer, I’d been shuffled back a bit through the last cobble sector,” Coles-Lyster explains. “I always backed myself to get to Silvia, and then we’ll do our thing. She got me through that last corner in fifth, and then the sprint was just what it was, but I think we rode the whole race really well, and then you can learn from the end and figure out what we can do to win it.”
Atop the speedy Factor ONE aero bike, Coles-Lyster was delivered to the finish by a late, committed lead out from teammates Zanardi, Jente Koops, Wiktoria Pikulik, Kathrin Schweinberger, Yurani Blanco and Katia Ragusa.
“We rode great all day and were in good position leading into that last lap, and it just kept us out of trouble,” says Coles-Lyster. “The field split a couple of times, so we made sure that we had a couple of riders in each of those splits to cover every move, so the team did a really good job covering it all. When it’s chaotic, having a team like this that can control it just makes it easier.”
Ahead of the action, Coles-Lyster received her new Maple Leaf champions jersey from kit provider Verge Sport, a huge mark for any athlete who can carry their nation’s colours into each race.
“It’s almost like the first day of school vibes,” she beams. “You’re nervous, and you see people looking at you, having a little head turn and telling the person next to them, so it’s fun. It’s been four years since I got to rock the Maple Leaf, and it’s nice to be back in it.”
Coles-Lyster’s next race will be the Tour de Pologne from July 24 to 26, before she heads to Scotland to compete for Canada on the track at the Commonwealth Games.
“I’m carrying a lot of confidence right now that I can get a podium and then we’re working well as a team to get that dub on a good day,” she says. “Those are the expectations I have for myself and the team going into Poland, and I have two weeks now to have a good block and sharpen the sprint.”
With another podium secured and confidence continuing to grow, we leave Belgium encouraged by both the result and the performance behind it. As Coles-Lyster and the team look ahead to the Tour de Pologne, the foundations are firmly in place to keep fighting for that top step of the podium.
Argenta Classic – Deurne results
1 GILLESPIE Lara – UAE Team ADQ 3:08:04
2 COLES-LYSTER Maggie – Human Powered Health ”
3 UNEKEN Lonneke – VolkerWessels Cycling Team ”
4 LANGENBARG Puck – Fenix-Premier Tech Development Team ”
5 ZANARDI Silvia – Human Powered Health ”
6 SOUREN Scarlett – VolkerWessels Cycling Team ”
7 STEIGENGA Nicole – AG Insurance-Soudal Team ”
8 VANHOVE Marith – AG Insurance-Soudal Team ”
9 LUNDMARK Clara – Minimax Cycling Team ”
10 VENTURELLI Federica – UAE Team ADQ ”
