Maggie Coles-Lyster opened the UAE Tour Women, sprinting to fourth place on stage 1 in a field containing all the best bunch sprint talent in women’s cycling.
The result marks the 26-year-old’s continued strong comeback from surgery to combat Flow Limitation in the Iliac Artery, having also taken victory at the Santos Women’s Tour Down Under One Day Race atop her Factor OSTRO VAM.
“I’ve always been such a tactical rider, so it’s rewarding to have the blood flow and the leg power back to where I know it should be, and I just hope it keeps going like this [she says, gesticulating to a line graph charting in an upward trajectory], like it has in the past six months since the surgery.”
The 111 km stage from Al Mirfa to Madinat Zayed could have been susceptible to crosswinds, but the strong gales we have seen in the past stayed away. The peloton benefitted from a tailwind for much of the day before turning into a headwind for the final run to the line.
The Canadian Olympian then manoeuvred her way onto the back wheel of winner Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx – Protime), briefly bumping against the barrier before the final sprint, where she was just pipped to a podium finish.
“It was a bit chaotic in the bunch, but I remained patient, and my goal was just to get to Lorena’s wheel,” Coles-Lyster. “Just in the end, I got pushed into the barriers a bit and lost some momentum, but I ended up fourth and in a bike throw for third. So, I’m right there, and in the battle I was hoping I’d be in.”
Coles-Lyster could count on the collective strength of her team on stage 1, including the integral oversight of road captain Marit Raaijmakers.
“It was chaos in a race like this, so my teammates were really helpful,” she says. “I told them that the best thing they can do is just stay where they are and be patient, as I can always come up to them. They helped me in the headwind finish and were able to cover me from that.”
The UAE Tour Women continues tomorrow with another test for the sprinters. Finishing on a wide avenue just outside the metropolitan sprawl of Dubai, there is plenty of space for the top hitters to go shoulder-to-shoulder.
“I just want to keep this momentum going and keep fighting for podiums. Lorena hasn’t been beaten in a sprint, but you know, it’ll happen at some point, and I’m pretty fired up to try to make that happen,” Coles-Lyster ended with a smile.
UAE Tour Women stage 1 results
1 WIEBES Lorena – Team SD Worx – Protime 2:26:17
2 GILLESPIE Lara – UAE Team ADQ ”
3 BÄCKSTEDT Zoe – CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto ”
4 COLES-LYSTER Maggie – Human Powered Health ”
5 ALZINI Martina – Cofidis Women Team ”
6 VERHULST-WILD Gladys – AG Insurance – Soudal Team ”
7 BAKER Georgia – Liv AlUla Jayco ”
8 NORSGAARD BJERG Emma – Lidl – Trek ”
9 BARBIERI Rachele – Team Picnic PostNL ”
10 LLOYD Carys – Movistar Team ”
Photos: GettySport and Oskar Scarsbrook
