Maggie Coles-Lyster won the Canadian national road race title in style, sprinting to victory at the end of the 107.6 km race in Saint-Georges, Quebec, to pull on the second Maple Leaf jersey of her career.
The 27-year-old scored victory after a tense attacking finale on the rolling parcours, fighting back to a lead group of favorites before coming out on top in the sprint to the line atop a rising false flat.
“Winning my second elite title is pretty sweet,” Coles-Lyster said afterwards. “I had to push hard on the climbs, but then I conserved as much as I could once we were over them and played all my cards in for that sprint.”
This time last year, Coles-Lyster could be forgiven for thinking she could not reach these heights again. Summer 2025 was full of uncertainty, appointments and surgery to combat FLIA, or flow limitation in the iliac artery.
Her return since has included victory in the Tour Down Under Women’s One Day Race, a stage podium at the Giro d’Italia Women, and now this national title. A truly remarkable turnaround and recovery, aided by Coles-Lyster’s fortitude, the team’s dedicated staff and the Human Powered Health Performance Labs.
“It kind of feels like a full circle moment. The first title I won was in 2022, before I’d really made my European debut and entered the World Tour circuit,” she explains. “It’s been quite a few four years, and with my surgery last year, this is kind of my comeback year. So to be able to win it again and race another year with the Maple Leaf is a pretty special thing.”
A strong group of seven broke away with 20 kilometers to race, but played games and could not cooperate fully with a multitude of attacks and counter-attacks, allowing a group containing Coles-Lyster to return to the head of the race atop her team Factor OSTRO VAM.
“There were lots of moves happening. On almost every riser, you just had to be in a good position and pay attention because they were trying to go up the road,” she says. “It seemed like there were enough riders in the group who wanted it to come down to a bunch sprint, which played wonderfully in my favor, so I just needed to be in a good position.”
This set up a dramatic final kilometer.
“There were a couple of corners and a small rise before the finish, so I just stayed top five, just so I had options in case someone tried to do a last-minute flyer,” she continues. “But nobody really did, so again, it played great into my hand. I opened up my sprint with about 250 meters to go on the small riser and was able to just hold them off for the line.”
Coles-Lyster’s final kilometers showed that strong tactics, legs and mindset carried the day.
“The pressure at the national championships is so different from all the other races we do throughout the year,” she explains. “It really focused on me. So I really focused on what I needed, where I needed to be, and followed the strong riders. I know between myself and the other World Tour girls, we would try to be in any dangerous moves that went.”
With a sprinkling of WorldTour athletes coming up against semi-professionals and club riders, this experience counts greatly at the championships.
“I just kept an eye on them and trusted that the power of the seven of us WorldTour riders would be able to bring back the club riders,” she says. “But at the nationals, it can go any way. So I had an open mindset going into it, but also a lot of self-inflicted pressure to win it again.”
The victory confirms the team as one of the winningest programs at the Canadian championships. Coles-Lyster adds her name to an illustrious list that includes Denise Ramsden in 2012, Joëlle Numainville in 2013, Leah Kirchmann in 2014, Allison Beveridge in 2017 and Katherine Maine in 2018.
“I’m really proud to continue the lineage of wearing the Maple Leaf on this team,” says Coles-Lyster. “We just spoke about how many there are in the history of the program, and so it’s really special to be able to continue that legacy.”
Arguably, the most exciting part about winning a title is pulling on your nation’s colors for the subsequent year, with team kit provider Verge Sport already at work on the new jersey,
“I’m super excited to see what Verge and the team have created for me,” exclaims Coles-Lyster. “I have a lot of anticipation to see what I’ll be wearing for the next year. I think that’s really exciting.”
Canada National Championships Road Race results
1 COLES-LYSTER Maggie – Human Powered Health 02:59:57
2 VOLSTAD Alexandra – EF Education-Oatly ”
3 BARIL Olivia – Movistar Team ”
4 JACKSON Alison – St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93 ”
5 MILETTE Laury – Team Abadie-Magnan ”
6 COUSINEAU Clemence – KDM-Pack Cycling Team ”
7 BAKER Dylan – The Cyclery Racing ”
8 VERKERK Katja – Minimax Cycling Team ”
9 DUFFIELD Kelsey — ”
10 GONTOVA Nadia – Liv AlUla Jayco ”
